Evaluating the Economic Impacts of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles on Japan’s Regional Economy: Input–Output Model Approach

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the economic impacts of the next-generation vehicles on the national and regional economy in Japan. Recently, the hybrid and electric vehicles gradually become popular. The industrial structure will be affected by the production of new-generation vehicles. A new technology in the automobile industry has an influence on not only own industry but also other industries. The regions where the automobile firms are concentrated will be affected by a new technology. In this study, we explore the economic impacts of shifting the production system in the automobile industry from the conventional automobile technology to an electric and hybrid vehicle technology using the national and multiregional input-output models in Japan.