A Geographical Analysis of the Public Finance of Compulsory Education in Peripheral Japan

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  • 縁辺地域における義務教育財政の特徴 : 島根県市町村中学校費を事例として
  • エンペン チイキ ニ オケル ギム キョウイク ザイセイ ノ トクチョウ シマネケン シチョウソン チュウガッコウヒ オ ジレイ ト シテ

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Abstract

The processes of depopulation and realignment of local school districts have resulted in reorganization of elementary schools and junior high schools in Japan after the Second World War. This reorganization has also brought regional variations in the public financing of education. Few attempts have been made to study the economic and geographic dimensions of public education financing. There are a number of studies on public works in peripheral Japan, but little is known about the public school financing. This study examines the expenditure for the municipal lower secondary schools in Shimane Prefecture, and clarifies the regional features of public education expenses in peripheral Japan by analyzing financial data quantitatively. The degree of regional disparities in municipal lower secondary schools expenditure is measured at two scales : comparison between the peripheral regions and central Japan and comparison among local governments in Shimane Prefecture based on economic and geographic classification. In order to capture the regional features of Shimane Prefecture, the difference between Shimane and Osaka Prefecture is measured. Using the Theil's measure, geographical inequalities among fifty-nine local governments in Shimane Prefecture are examined. These local governments are classified for the analysis based on the governmentally designated areas of depopulation types. Results of this analysis are as follows: (1) The fluctuation of municipal lower secondary schools expenditure in the peripheral regions is different from that of central Japan. The fluctuation of the central regions marked a peak when suburban residential areas were developed. On the other hand, the fluctuation of the peripheral regions was maximized immediately after the "Great Realignment of Local Governments in the Showa Era". Municipal lower secondary schools expenditure of the peripheral regions is independent of the number of residents receiving compulsory education service. (2) From the analysis of the general financing using the Theil's measure, it can be said that the degree of inequality in depopulated areas is caused by the public grants-in-aid. The grants-in-aid for education are higher in the peripheral regions than in the central regions. (3) The degree of inequality is high especially among the disadvantaged group of governments whose accessibility to the public facilities is relatively poor. (4) The degree of inequality in municipal lower secondary schools expenditure in local governments with smaller population have not experienced the "Great Realignment of Local Governments in the Showa Era". Financial inequalities within these local governments are becoming greater. (5) Based on the grouping of neighboring local governments, the population size of each group greatly influences financial inequalities. If the population size among groups is equal, the degree of inequality between groups would be small. Whether in the peripheral or the central regions, the compulsory education in Japan has many problems. So far various measures have been taken to resolve problems. In the foundation of the measures, the idea of "public responsibility for education" is embodied in the legal regulation of "the equal opportunity of education". In the central regions, public education financing was "equal" among local governments when the process of the "equal opportunity" of compulsory education was carried out. On the contrary, in the peripheral regions, accomplishment of the "equal opportunity" of compulsory education has brought about the "unequal" process of the public education finances among local governments, especially those in depopulated areas. This is the result of the budgeting system controlled by a large proportion of the grants-in-aid for the construction of educational infrastructure rather than the improvement of the quality of education.

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