Firms are also starting to undertake postponed business fixed investment, and are proceeding with efforts to streamline their business processes through suspending the provision of extravagant services and reassigning employees to new positions. As labor input has increased and labor productivity has risen through these changes, the long-term growth potential of Japan's economy, which declined substantially in the past, is gradually strengthening again.
Currently, Japan's economy may be referred to as being in a rehabilitation process to regain its fundamental strength. The effects of hysteresis have been pointed out in overseas economies as well. These effects have attracted increased attention, especially as the economic growth trend has shifted downward globally since the financial crisis in the latter half of the 2000s.