About the Possibilities for Policy Making, System Development and Policy
Evaluations through the Utilization of Micro Data from the Japanese
Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR) and the National Survey on Work
and Family (NSWF).
On July 3 our Prof. Hidehiko Ichimura made a presentation to the local
government officials of Hyogo Prefecture in Kobe entitled "About the
Possibilities for Policy Making, System Development and Policy
Evaluations through the Utilization of Micro Data from the Japanese
Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR) and the National Survey on Work
and Family (NSWF)."
The purpose of the meeting with the Hyogo government officials was to
explore the possibility of applying the results gained through the two
surveys to policy making on the prefectural level, which has not been
done so far in Japan.
The presentation pointed out the uniqueness of Japan's situation (where,
despite the pronounced population aging, health expenditure remains at
comparatively low levels and a high proportion of the elderly remain in
the labor force), addressed the methodological difficulties in NTA,
micro empirical analysis and modelling, and also introduced a variety of
examples showing how micro data can be effectively used to evaluate the
effects of current policies and to formulate new policies in various
fields of life, from education to social security.