A Strategy to Address Japan's Declining Fertility Rate

A Strategy to Address Japan's Declining Fertility Rate

Monday, December 4, 2023 | 12:45 — 1:45 PM (Lunch will be provided)

Room 520, Geffen Hall, Columbia Business School (Map)

(645 West 130th Street, New York, NY 10027)

Featuring:

Randall S. Jones

Research Associate, Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB), Columbia Business School; Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS); Former Senior Counselor - East Asia and Head of Japan/Korea Desk, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Moderator:

David E. Weinstein

Director, CJEB; Carl S. Shoup Professor of the Japanese Economy, Columbia University

What you will learn:

• With Japan’s total fertility rate falling to a record low 1.26 in 2022, Prime Minister Kishida stated, “We must create a children-first economic society and reverse the birth rate decline.”

• While there is no simple explanation or solution for the low birth rate, strengthening the weak financial position of youth, making it easier to combine paid work and family responsibilities and reducing the cost of children may have a positive effect.

• Given the challenge of reversing fertility trends, Japan needs to prepare for a low-fertility future by raising productivity and employment, particularly among women and older people, and increasing inflows of foreign workers.

About the speaker:

Randall S. Jones is a Research Associate at the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia University, a non-resident Distinguished Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute, and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Previously, he served as the Senior Counselor for East Asia and as Head of the Japan/Korea Desk at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 2002 until 2019. During his 30 years at the OECD, Dr. Jones wrote all 16 OECD Economic Surveys of Korea and 15 OECD Economic Surveys of Japan, in addition to a number of other publications. Before joining the OECD in 1989, he spent three years in the US government, serving at the Council of Economic Advisers and as an advisor in the State Department. Dr. Jones was also the vice-president of the Japan Economic Institute in Washington. Dr. Jones received a B.A. in Economics from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1984. Dr. Jones was awarded the Decoration of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette from the Government of Japan in 2015 and the Sungnye Medal, Order of Diplomatic Service from the Government of Korea in 2018.

Admission and Contact:

You must register to attend this in-person-only event.

If you have questions about the event, please contact us at cjeb@gsb.columbia.edu.

Special Notes:

● This in-person-only event is open to the public and will not be live streamed. Please note registration does not guarantee a seat.

● Please be advised that this event may be photographed, so your image may appear on our website or in CJEB materials later. If this is an issue, please let us know.

For more information about other CJEB events, visit our website or contact cjeb@gsb.columbia.edu.