Conference : Speakers : Programme : Papers : Registration : Venue : Contact : Links
   
Carter, Connie
Casanova, Arnel
Gopalakrishnan, Shankar
Harada Hiroki
Harding, Andrew
Krusekopf, Charles
Likosky, Michael
Muchlinski, Peter
Nogami Natsu
Park Nohyoung
Tey Tsun Hang
Vaddhanaphuti, Chayan
Xu Feng

 

 


Prof. Harada, Hiroki

The Special Economic Zone as a Tool for Policy Coordination between National and Local Governments

We usually take for granted the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as a limited preceding area for developing the whole national economy. Japan certainly has this type of SEZ since the return of Okinawa, but we can use SEZ as a tool for policy innovation and coordination between multi-level governments. The Special Zone for Structural Reconstruction Act 2002 was approved in order to test deregulation or regulative reform, followed by the introduction of the same regulative policy all over Japan, if the test goes well. This System also has a procedure, in which the local government proposes the deregulation or regulative reform to the national government, which creates policy coordination system between national and local governments.

With regard to policy innovation or coordination we can find not a few examples from German law. It may be true that there are few instances that specify a zone to exempt from regulations, but Germany has experimental clauses, which gives the executive branch authority to deviate from normal rules for policy innovation. In this procedure there are frequent policy dialogues between different-level governments or organizations (mainly between state government and municipal corporations). In addition the deviate legislative competence for state government from federal legislation, which was introduced in federal reform 2006, is also an important example for policy coordination.

By showing these examples from Japanese and German law I would like to clarify unnoticed function of SEZ: it can also be used for policy innovation and coordination. In other words SEZ is kind of governance technique in multi-level administrative system. I would also explain legal conditions, in which we can use SEZ as an attractive and safe tool properly.