Last year, Prof Kohei KAWAGUCHI from the Department of Economics attended a conference call at the Cabinet Office of Japan to advise Mr Yasutoshi NISHIMURA, the Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy. Mr Nishimura oversees Japan's response to the pandemic and the business environment in light of the COVID-19 shocks in Japan.
During the conference call, Prof Kawaguchi stressed the importance of real-time data analysis. He also urged the Japanese government to establish an organization that can systematically collect, monitor, and analyze data to support evidence-based policymaking.
Prof Kawaguchi also conducted a series of surveys of small businesses in Japan about their response to the pandemic. Together with his co-authors, he wrote the paper titled "Small Business under the COVID-19 Crisis: Expected Short- and Medium-Run Effects of Anti-Contagion and Economic Policies."
The paper presented estimated damages to small businesses as a result of the emergency state declaration and the effectiveness of subsidies.