Do Japanese Work Shorter Hours than before? Measuring trends in market work and leisure using 1976–2006 Japanese time-use survey

Using Japanese time-use data from the Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities (STULA), this paper measures trends in average hours worked (market work) and leisure for Japanese over the past three decades. OECD reports at least a 15% decline in market work for Japan since the 1970s. However, holding demographic changes constant, we found that market work per week increased from the 1970s until mid-1980s, and has been relatively stable for the last two decades for both male and female full-time workers. Furthermore, although the market work per week remained relatively constant since the mid-1980s, we found a significant change in the allocation of time to market work within the week during the period. Specifically, when dividing samples into weekdays (Monday–Friday) and weekends (Saturday and Sunday), average hours spent for market work per weekday among full-time males increased by 0.4 h since the mid-1980s, whereas a significant decline in market work on Saturday was observed. This suggests that people shifted their work time from Saturday to weekdays in response to the reduced work week introduced by the amendment of the Labor Standards Act at the end of 1980s. In the meantime, commuting time and home production had decreased by 3 h since the mid-1980s for full-time female workers, indicating that the average hours of leisure had increased for females even though market work remained the same. Interestingly, however, hours for sleep declined consistently over the last three decades, resulting in a 3–4 h reduction per week for both male and female workers. Lastly, a comparison of Japanese and US time-use data suggests that Japanese work much longer than their American counterparts. On average, Japanese males work 10 h longer per week, and Japanese females 7 h longer, than Americans, even after adjusting for demographic differences between the countries.     

Job security and work force adjustment: How different are U.S. and Japanese practices?

The paper compares employment and hours adjustment in Japanese and U.S. manufacturing. In contrast to some previous work, we find that adjustment of total labor input to demand changes is significantly greater in the United States than in Japan; adjustment of employment is significantly greater in the United States, while that of average hours is about the same in the two countries. Although workers in Japan enjoy greater employment stability than do U.S. workers, we find considerable variability in the adjustment patterns across groups within each country. In the United States, most of the adjustment is borne by production workers. In Japan, female workers, in particular, bear a disproportionate share of adjustment.     

Elderly long-term care policy and sandwich caregivers’ time allocation between child-rearing and market labor

Using an overlapping generations model, we present analyses of public long-term care provision effects on fertility and time allocation decisions of sandwich caregivers, those caring for young children and old parents simultaneously. If the public long-term care level runs short of the necessary level, then working children must compensate for the difference by spending their time. Reportedly, about a third of university students’ parents are sandwich caregivers in Japan, although Japan has a Long-Term Care Insurance system, which is a mandatory system with universal coverage. With a rapidly aging population, demand for long-term care is predicted to increase, thereby affecting family time allocation, e.g., fertility decisions, in Japan. Results show that if public long-term care production is costly relative to family care provision, then increases in public care provision lower the fertility rate. If labor productivity in the public long-term care sector improves, then it increases the fertility rate by freeing caregivers’ time from family care provision. It will also increase social welfare. The effects on labor employment in the goods production sector are generally ambiguous because the increased public care provision requires more labor.     

Quality and efficiency of home help elderly care in Japan: Evidence from micro-level data

With the introduction of public long-term care insurance in the spring of 2000, for-profit enterprises were allowed to enter the home help elderly care market in Japan for the first time. We take advantage of data from a unique, self-conducted survey to compare the efficiency and quality of service offered by providers with different types of ownership and different lengths of operation. We present two major findings. First, contrary to the prevailing perception, we find no significant difference in the quality of service between for-profit and nonprofit providers. Although the nonprofits are able to offer more qualified and experienced staff, the quality of services provided by nonprofits is worse in some aspects than that of their for-profit counterparts. Second, our estimates of a quality-adjusted cost function demonstrate that the management of newer providers is more efficient than that of older providers. Our results show that the competition mechanism works effectively in the home help care market, and that there is no reason to believe that the for-profit providers are behaving opportunistically. Thus, this study justifies the belief that free-market policy contributes significantly toward improving the quality and the efficiency of home help long-term care in Japan. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (2) (2007) 287–301.     

Nonprofit/for-profit status and earning differentials in the Japanese at-home elderly care industry: Evidence from micro-level data on home helpers and staff nurses

In April 2000, Japan embarked on a reform of its health care market. Along with the introduction of a long-term care insurance scheme, the government for the first time allowed for-profit operators to compete head-on with non-profit operators in the provision of at-home care services. Taking advantage of a unique and rich micro-level survey, this study is the first to examine wage differentials between the nonprofit and the for-profit sectors in Japan's nursing care industry, concentrating on home helpers and staff nurses. Controlling for nonrandom unobserved selection biases, our results show that a nonprofit wage premium exists. This finding supports the hypothesis that nonprofit providers operate under non-distributional constraints. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (1) (2007) 106–120.     

Unlocking housing equity in Japan

Much prior literature on asset patterns among the elderly has mostly overlooked housing wealth as a determinant of retiree wealth, particularly in the Japanese context. Yet releasing equity in housing may be a natural mechanism to boost consumption, reduce public pension liability, and mitigate the demand for long-term care facilities in Japan. Our study evaluates what might be needed to implement reverse mortgages (RMs) in this country. Policies could include exempting RMs from capital gains tax and transactions tax, along with mechanisms to make annuity income flows nontaxable, along with interest rate accruals for RMs. In addition, housing market reforms to enhance information flows would be needed, particularly regarding new and existing housing trades, which could permit the securitization of housing loans and lines of credit. Other improvements in capital markets could also help, including the establishment of reinsurance mechanisms to help lenders offer these reverse mortgages while having some protection against crossover risk. In the Japanese case, demand for RMs will be dampened by declining residential housing values as well as low interest rates and long life expectancies. Nevertheless, we conclude that RMs can be a good way to finance elderly consumption in Japan, particularly against the backdrop of governmental financial stringencies. J. Japanese Int. Economies 18 (4) (2004) 466–505.     

Population aging,consumption budget allocation and sectoral growth

This paper assesses the heterogeneous effects of population aging on personal budget allocation across sectors. Using China's household survey data, we break down each household expenditure component into its constituent members. We find consistent and robust age profiles of the composition of personal consumption expenditures. Young people spend larger proportions of their budget on food and education, culture, and recreation services. The middle-aged spend significantly more on clothing and transportation and communication. Lastly, the elderly spend substantially more on food and health care and medical services. After controlling for period and cohort effects as well as other socio-economic factors, we still find age to be a fundamental driver of consumption budget allocation. We also incorporate the estimated results into the population forecast data and predict the evolution of China's consumption budget allocation patterns driven by demographic change.     

Do borrowing constraints matter? An analysis of why the permanent income hypothesis does not apply in Japan

We use micro data on young married households from the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers in order to analyze the importance of borrowing constraints in Japan. We find (1) that 8–15 percent of young married Japanese households are borrowing-constrained, (2) that household assets and the husband's educational attainment are the most important determinants of whether or not a household is borrowing-constrained, and (3) that the Euler equation implication is rejected for both the full sample and for the subsample of unconstrained households. These results suggest that the life cycle/permanent income hypothesis does not apply in Japan and that the presence of borrowing constraints is not the main reason why it does not apply.     

Job stress in Japanese academia: The role of relative income,time allocation by task,and children

We examine the role of income relative deprivation, time allocation by task, and children in the job stress experienced by Japanese academics. Males’ job stress increases when their incomes are lower than that of their peers’, but females are not susceptible to such income comparisons. Job stress decreases with hours spent on research, provided the hours are not excessive; however, hours spent in teaching and on administrative tasks always increase job stress. The presence of young children increases job stress only for females, and children largely explain the observed gender differences in job-related stress.     

A comparison of the Japanese and U.S. business cycles

This paper constructs a consistent set of quarterly Japanese data for the 1960–2002 sample period and compares properties of the Japanese and U.S. business cycles. We document some important differences in the adjustment of labor input between the two countries. In Japan most of the adjustment is in hours per worker of males and females and also in employment of females. In the U.S. most of the adjustment is in employment of both males and females. We formulate, estimate, and analyze a model that makes the distinction between the intensive and extensive margin and allows for gender differerences in labor supply. A weak empirical correlation between hours per worker and employment in Japanese data is a puzzle for our theory.     

Livelihood and care of the elderly: Determinants of public attitudes in Japan

This study analyses public attitudes towards the degree of government involvement in ensuring the livelihood and care of the elderly in Japan. Using four waves of individual-level annual data from the Japanese General Social Survey collected over the period 2000-2005, we estimate ordered logit models with various explanatory variables based on the socio-demographic, economic, political, and social background of the respondents. Many significant factors are common for both livelihood and care specifications, their effects being qualitatively the same and in line with our prior expectations. The estimation results also show positive coefficients of year intercept dummies, implying an increase in support of a government-based system over time. Further investigation shows that this trend is caused by those who favour government redistribution policies becoming increasingly more consistent in their support for a government-based social security system in Japan.     

日本看护保险制度的沿革及其思考

日本政府于1997年12月17日颁布了《看护保险法》,并于2000年4月1日正式实施看护保险制度。看护保险制度的诞生标志着日本传统的家庭养老方式迅速向社会化养老方式进行转变。日本看护保险制度的发展可划分为形成期、实行期、完善期3个阶段,经历了10余年的历程,看护保险在日本从萌芽逐渐走向完善。日本看护保险的发展和改革经验对中国今后建立和完善看护保险制度具有重要的参考价值。     

社会养老对城镇居民家庭养老影响的性别差异分析

基于 2011-2012 年中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查数据(CLHLS),将家庭养老分为经 济供养与生活照料、精神慰藉与居住方式四个方面,实证分析了社会养老对城镇居民家庭养老影 响的性别差异。研究发现,对女性老年人而言,社会养老挤出了老人的经济供养与精神慰藉状况, 并与其居住方式依然属于负向的关系;对男性老年人而言,社会养老会对老人的经济供养和生活 照料有替代效应,而对精神慰藉与居住方式没有起到显著的影响。通过解释机制发现,原因在于 老年家庭决策权力在其中起到了调节效应。研究结论认为在完善社会养老的同时,应在老龄政策 中引入性别差异因素,针对不同性别的城镇老年人提供更加精准化的养老政策措施,协调社会养 老与家庭养老的关系,注重老年赋权的调节效应,切实解决老年人的养老困境。     

The effect of coresidence on parental health in Japan

The empirical evidence of the effect of intergenerational coresidence by elderly parents and their adult children on parental health remains inconclusive. This study provides a new estimate of the coresidence effect by addressing non-random selection and heterogeneity in the treatment effect. Examination of Japanese data reveals: (i) an insignificant, negative average coresidence effect; (ii) a significant, negative coresidence effect on the treated; and (iii) that parents with unmet care needs and limited resources, typically widowed, disabled mothers, are most likely to suffer from a significant, negative coresidence effect. The results support the theory that coresidence may worsen elderly parents’ health because care burdens on their adult children create disincentives for the parents to invest in longevity. The significant heterogeneity in the coresidence effect suggests potential scope for a better-targeted long-term care program.     

Comparative analysis of health care costs in Japan and the United States: a simulation of productivity and savings behavior

Japan and the United States, though contrastive in terms of the percentage of the elderly in their population and the ratio of their health care costs to GDP, both face soaring medical expenditures. Sato et al. [Health Care Systems in Japan and the United States: A Simulation Studies and Policy Analysis. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Hingham, MA] developed a model to solve this problem by increasing the productivity of the non-health care sector. This study has applied that model to estimate national savings, and compared these savings with estimated health care costs. The results show that in order for savings to exceed expenditures the US needs to have a higher savings rate and a higher interest rate than Japan.     

隔代照料孙子女对中老年人心理健康的影响研究

使用 2013 年中国健康与养老追踪调查(CHARLS)数据，以抑郁情况与生活满意度作为 心理健康的代理指标，探讨隔代照料孙子女对中老年人心理健康的影响，为克服由于自我选择所 产生的内生性问题，进一步运用倾向得分匹配法分析隔代照料孙子女对中老年人心理健康的影响。 研究结果表明，我国 51.7% 的中老年人提供隔代照料;提供隔代照料对中老年人心理健康有显著 的改善作用;隔代照料孙子女对男性、农业户口、未达到退休年龄中老年人影响更为显著;此外， 对影响路径的分析表明，提供隔代照料会通过显著增加人们参加社交活动的可能性以及参加社交 活动的频率来改善心理健康。     

Surviving the Famine Unscathed? An Analysis of the Long‐Term Health Effects of the Great Chinese Famine

We study the long‐term health effects of the Chinese Famine of 1959–1961 on five cohorts of individuals exposed to it at different stages of their early lives. Based on a 2011 national survey, we use instrumental variables to estimate the impact of the Famine on various health and lifestyle indicators for the whole sample and for the female and male subsamples separately. We have found some negative effects of Famine exposure: (i) for the whole sample, Famine exposure reduced adult height for two out of five cohorts; (ii) for both the female and the male subsamples, Famine exposure reduced adult height in one cohort; and on the whole the reduction was larger for males. We have also found in the subsample that Famine exposure was associated with (i) a higher risk of having hypertension in one cohort for females; (ii) a higher likelihood of smoking in one male cohort; and (iii) a higher probability of consuming alcohol in one cohort for males. Finally, we have not found a statistically significant association between Famine exposure and the risk of being overweight or underweight, having diabetes or other chronic diseases, having depression.     

Who bears the burden of social insurance? Evidence from Japanese health and long-term care insurance data

Using the society-managed health insurance data, which is cross-sectional time-series and covers 1670 health insurance societies for seven years (FY1995–2001), we found for the first time in Japan that the majority of the employers' contribution to health insurance is shifting back onto the employees in the form of wage reduction. On the other hand, we cannot find such evidence for the contribution to long-term care insurance using a two-year (FY2000–2001) panel data set. The difference can be theoretically explained by how employees value the contribution relative to social security benefits they enjoy. J. Japanese Int. Economies 18 (4) (2004) 565–581.     

The urbanization-household gender inequality nexus: Evidence from time allocation in China

Urbanization and accompanying socio-economic change, alter intra-household behaviours including paid and unpaid work patterns. China's rapid urbanization raises important questions about the changing nature of gender asymmetries in the household division of labour. Using 24-hour time module data from the China Family Panel Studies, we investigate time allocation of females and males in matched-couples in urban, rural-urban migrant, and rural households. Our model explicitly incorporates the impact of care of young children on time-use. Distinguishing between care and other housework, overall, we find while traditional gendered time-use patterns persist among rural households, urbanization and migration reduces gender differentials in unpaid work. Both urban and migrant fathers engage in more care work than their rural counterparts. We shed new light on the configurations of paid and unpaid work, leisure and self-care; women's burden of a ‘second shift’ of unpaid work; the role of education and income in eroding gender norms; and the impact of grandparents on time-use.     

International co-movements and business cycle transmission between Korea and Japan

This study examines the economic relationship and interdependence between Korea and Japan. Using macroeconomic data, an event chronology, and trade flows, I examine the question, are business cycles transmitted from Japan to Korea, and/or from Korea to Japan? And, how has that transmission changed over time? The study uses structured vector autoregressions (SVARs) to analyze monthly data 1960.01–2002.01 on industrial production, prices, interest rates, money supplies, and exchange rates. Japanese business cycles are found to have a moderate effect upon business cycle fluctuations in Korea, and that influence seems to be increasing over time. J. Japanese Int. Economies 18 (1) (2004) 57–83.