Analysis of the Policy Network for the “Feed-in Tariff Law” in Japan: Evidence from the GEPON Survey

Abstract

Energy policy is known to have higher path dependency among policy fields (Kuper and van Soest, 2003;OECD, 2012;Kikkawa, 2013) and is a critical component of the infrastructure development undertaken in the early stages of nation building. Actor roles, such as those played by interest groups, are firmly formed, making it unlikely that institutional change can be implemented. In resource-challenged Japan, energy policy is an especially critical policy area for the Japanese government. In comparing energy policy making in Japan and Germany, Japan's policy community is relatively firm (Hartwig et al., 2015) IntroductionSince the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, energy policy has become a hotly debated policy field throughout the world. Particularly in Japan, the discourse concerning energy policy has evolved into multiple policy trajectories with competing preferences. On one hand, there are assertions that even though Japan experienced a major accident involving nuclear power, policy concerning nuclear power has not evolved into complete de-nuclearization. Proponents of this policy who are concerned about maintaining Japan's economy claim that there is a need for Japan to re-open the nuclear energy power plants that were shut down shortly after the March 11, 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear power plant. On the other hand, there are critics of this policy line who advocate serious consideration of the development of safe, non-nuclear energy resources and who assert that expanding new sources of energy will provide tremendous benefits to the country in the future.From a theoretical point of view, among the various policy fields that are intrinsic to creating national policies, energy policy is arguably the most important and is said to have a higher path dependency compared to other policy areas (Kuper and van Soest, 2003;OECD, 2012, Kikkawa, 2013). Determining energy policy, which is strongly connected to a nation's economic growth and political stability, requires inputs from multiple actors, identifying current energy needs, and forecasting future requirements. Yet, despite the possibilities for fluid and abrupt change owing to extenuating circumstances, actor roles, such as those played by interest groups, are firmly formed, making it unlikely that institutional change can be implemented (Hartwig et al., 2015).In resource-challenged Japan, energy policy is an especially critical policy area for the Japanese government. In comparing energy policy creation in Japan and Germany, where the accident at the Fukushina Dai'ichi nuclear power plant had a major impact on energy policy, the range of actors in Japan's policy community is relatively stable (Hartwig et al., 2015). Furthermore, the Japanese government's approach to energy policy has shifted incrementally in the past half century, with the most recent being the 2012 implementation of the "Feed-In Tariff Law" (Act on Special Measures Concerning Procurement of Renewable Electric Energy by Operators of Electric Utili...

Correction to: Identifying the ‘Fukushima Effect’ in Germany through policy actors’ responses: evidence from the G-GEPON 2 survey

“…4 The Japanese GEPON 2 (J-GEPON 2) was conducted in 2012-2013, and its German counterpart, the G-GEPON 2, was undertaken in Germany between November 2016 and February 2017. The sampling technique was not random, that is, the target population was identified in three steps prior to going out in the field (Okura et al 2016). As a first step, we updated and cleaned the list of policy actors used for the first GEPON Germany Survey conducted in 2000; then, we added actors who were identified via their participation in COP17 and COP21; finally, we confirmed our list with experts in the German energy policy field.…”