Evaluating the complementary relationship between local brand farm products and rural tourism: Evidence from Japan

This paper examined the complementary relationship between the direct effects of local brand farm products, such as through increases in income and employment in the local community, and indirect effects, such as through the development of tourism, by examining data collected by a survey of agricultural cooperatives in Japan. Estimation of a determinant model of direct and indirect economic effects that assumed an endogenous relationship revealed that those cooperatives producing brand products that have a relatively long history of branding of products, systems for quality control, preservation of the local heritage, and a local partnership between agricultural and accommodation/restaurant sectors are much more likely to achieve the two primary economic goals of income and employment generation. It is concluded that a wider and longstanding perspective of local resource management is necessary to enhance the complementary relationship between economic gain of local brand farm products and tourism development.