open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/99424

The Role of Fiscal Adjustment Funds in Disaster-Related Public Finance : How Have These Funds Actually Been Used in Times of Disaster?

日本語

local allocation tax

2026-03-31

北海道大学公共政策大学院

Annals, Public Policy Studies

20

29-46

18

This paper aims to clarify the significance of fiscal adjustment funds in disaster-related public finance through an empirical analysis of their actual utilization. Japan's disaster fiscal system established its basic institutional framework in the post-World War II period and has since been progressively expanded by incorporating lessons learned from large-scale disasters. The core principle of this system is that disaster-affected local governments are expected to bear the portion of costs that can be covered by their own fiscal capacity, while costs exceeding that level are supplemented by national government subsidies and local allocation tax, which constitute shared local revenues. Accordingly, fiscal adjustment funds accumulated in advance by local governments to prepare for such burdens can be regarded as an integral component of the disaster fiscal system. Based on this perspective, this study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the use of fiscal adjustment funds over the past 20 years by municipalities that have experienced disasters of a certain scale or larger. The results show that while these funds were used as bridging finance at the budget formulation stage or across fiscal years, on a final settlement basis, 84 percent of municipalities were ultimately able to cope without substantively relying on their fiscal adjustment funds. These findings suggest that, for many municipalities, disaster response expenditures could be financed through routine revenue-expenditure adjustments and special local allocation tax grants, indicating that the practical necessity of fiscal adjustment funds was limited.

紀要論文

Version of Record

1881-9818

AA12291642