Purpose and Background of the Association
The community mechanism refers to a system in which cooperation within families and local communities is based on voluntary initiatives—specifically, “a mechanism in which at least one person voluntarily offers cooperation and that offer is not rejected.”
In economics, this mechanism is distinguished from the other two fundamental systems: the market mechanism, based on agreements formed through supply and demand, and the power mechanism, which enables actions to be enforced without consensus.
Many countries around the world are facing declining birthrates and population aging. These trends are creating serious fiscal challenges, including rising government expenditures on social security and medical care, as well as increasing old-age dependency ratios—the ratio of people aged 65 and older to the working-age population (ages 15–64). In addition, large-scale crises such as earthquakes, tsunamis, heavy rains, and environmental degradation have become major societal concerns.
In such an era of crisis, the use of the community mechanism across various fields presents opportunities for individuals, businesses, and governments to transform challenges into sources of resilience and innovation.
For example, as societies age, an increasing number of older adults may experience dementia or age-related cognitive decline, making it difficult for them to navigate market mechanisms independently. In Japan, the long-term care insurance system—a power mechanism that mandates insurance contributions—is combined with labor-market-based services under the market mechanism to provide care. However, individuals with dementia may be unable to report or respond to mistreatment, making abuse in care facilities a serious issue.
Going forward, it will become increasingly difficult to address such challenges through power and market mechanisms alone. Yet the community mechanism can complement these systems. In many care facilities, caregivers employ community-based approaches—treating each resident with empathy, fostering mutual support among residents, and emphasizing relationships—to improve the quality of care.
During periods of economic growth prior to the current crisis era, the relative importance of market and power mechanisms increased, while that of the community mechanism declined. As a result, research on the community mechanism in economics has lagged behind the other two mechanisms. Because the community mechanism concerns voluntary cooperation, interdisciplinary research is essential, and further development in this area is highly anticipated.
The Community Mechanism Research Association was established on August 12, 2025, with the aim of promoting research related to the community mechanism and fostering interdisciplinary scholarship across a wide range of fields—including economics, management, anthropology, psychology, ethics, neuroscience, philosophy, theology, medicine, education, gerontology, environmental studies, and literature.
The association also seeks to contribute to society through public education and outreach.