This report covers the online conference held at the 91st ESRI Policy Forum on the theme "Toward Sustainable Wage Increases in Regions."
Key Points
1. Forum Overview
- Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 15:30-17:00
- Format: Online via Zoom Webinar
- Organizer: Cabinet Office Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)
- Theme: "Toward Sustainable Wage Increases in Regions"
- Format: Panel discussion in online seminar format
2. Opening Remarks and Keynote Presentation
- Junji Kimura (Counselor for Regional Affairs, Policy Coordination Division for Economic and Fiscal Analysis, Cabinet Office)
- Explained current status and challenges of regional wages from government perspective
- Materials: Distributed in PDF format (751KB)
- Presented necessity of wage increases from regional economic analysis perspective
- Explained government initiatives and future directions
3. Panelist Composition and Areas of Expertise
- Seito Furuya (Senior Researcher, Recruit Works Institute): Analysis from labor market and employment research perspective (Materials: 2,374KB)
- Keisuke Matsushima (Deputy Director, Information Research Department, Kyushu Economic Research Association): Regional economy and Kyushu economy analysis (Materials: 1,004KB)
- Sachiko Kazekami (Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University): Academic perspective from labor economics (Materials: 336KB)
- Multi-faceted discussion by experts from various fields
- Comprehensive examination through industry-academia-government collaboration
4. Panel Discussion Structure
- Individual presentations by each panelist
- Analysis of current regional wage conditions and sharing of challenges
- Examination of wage increase mechanisms and impediments
- Discussion of concrete measures for sustainable wage increases
- Q&A session with participants (online format)
5. Discussion Focus and Policy Significance
- Analysis of regional wage disparities and their factors
- Possibilities and constraints for wage increases in SMEs
- Relationship between productivity improvement and wage increases
- Methods for creating virtuous cycles between regional economic revitalization and wages
- Provision of empirical evidence for policy recommendations
The article demonstrates that experts in labor market research, regional economic analysis, and labor economics gathered to develop policy discussions based on empirical data and theory for achieving sustainable wage increases in regions.