Panel Data Research Center

Director: Yoshio Higuchi (Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce)

Main Campus: Mita

By designing, implementing, analyzing, and releasing reliable third-generation panel data, this center strives to dramatically improve the level of empirical research in Japan. It enables (i) understanding the actual conditions and making international comparisons of household income changes, inter-stratum mobility, and behavioral changes in employment, hiring, and investment; (ii) verifying dynamic theoretical hypotheses derived from economic theory; and (iii) conducting policy evaluation analysis with time lags resulting from revisions to the tax and social security systems and changes in laws and policies. Specifically, the center is constructing household panel data from a nationwide survey of 4,000 households and corporate panel data by utilizing existing financial statements of listed companies and surveys of newly established businesses. The center also actively disseminates its research results through the internet and symposiums. To cultivate users of the collected panel data, it has held free seminars with lectures and exercises on panel data analysis methods to promote the spread of empirical analysis. Furthermore, it promotes joint research with international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), fulfilling its role as one of Japan's leading sources of panel data.

Panel data, Microdata, Survey design, Data analysis, Experimental design

■ Continuing Activities from the Previous Fiscal Year: Background, Rationale, and Goals

Regarding the survey design for the household panel survey, we will review survey items and methods at a questionnaire development meeting with researchers from within and outside the university, utilizing the existing application system for adding and modifying survey items. We will also conduct the 2017 JHPS/KHPS survey (the 9th JHPS survey and the 14th KHPS survey) in January 2017. For data analysis, project participants will proceed with analysis using past survey results, aiming to present the findings at various symposiums and conferences. For the corporate panel survey design and data analysis, we will advance analysis using both panel surveys based on existing statistics and the Panel Survey on New Businesses, building on the research topics from the previous fiscal year. Regarding the public release of panel data, we will provide the dataset for the 2015 JHPS/KHPS survey to researchers in Japan and abroad within FY2016. In parallel, we will also release the survey manuals and programs for constructing the datasets for each survey. Furthermore, we will continue to create and provide weighting variables to correct for data bias. As the demand for the "Panel Survey on New Businesses," which has been available since FY2012, is expected to remain high, we will continue to release it this fiscal year. We will also strive for further improvements to the publicly available datasets and programs to enhance user convenience.

■ New Activity Goals and Content for FY2016, and Background for Implementation

In May 2016, we will hold a symposium on inequality research to disseminate our research findings. Regarding the Japan Child Panel Survey, we will publish a book based on more detailed data analysis of the results from the first (FY2010), second (FY2011), third (FY2012), fourth (FY2013), and fifth (FY2014) surveys conducted at our center.

To improve the usability of the integrated JHPS/KHPS, we will enhance the website and proceed with the creation of weights and disposable income variables.

We are also preparing to start a new joint research project with the "Cross-National Equivalent File" project, an international study on income, employment, and health conducted at Ohio State University, to build an internationally comparable data program.

Furthermore, as the Keio Household Panel Survey, which preceded the Japan Household Panel Survey, will also be conducted and its data managed by the same organization, we will continue to explore ways to streamline the JHPS/KHPS survey implementation system and improve management efficiency.

■ Implementation Details for the Fiscal Year's Business Plan, Research Outcomes, and Degree of Achievement

In FY2015, our activities focused primarily on two points:

(1) The design, analysis, and release of large-scale panel data

(2) Multifaceted and dynamic research on economic inequality from other fields of applied microeconomics

Major Publications

Regarding the household panel survey conducted by this center, in addition to improving the collection rate, we aimed for greater survey efficiency by integrating the JHPS/KHPS questionnaires, completing the 13th wave of the KHPS survey and the 8th wave of the JHPS survey. We plan to publicly release the datasets for the 12th wave of the KHPS survey and the 7th wave of the JHPS survey within FY2016. We are also continuing to promote dissemination abroad through English-translated versions. Furthermore, in line with the integration of the KHPS and JHPS questionnaires from the 2014 survey, we have developed not only data construction programs for KHPS and JHPS respectively, but also a program to merge the KHPS and JHPS data. In addition to these, the Japan Child Panel Survey (JCPS), an accompanying survey of elementary and junior high school students and their parents that began in FY2009, is a rare endeavor that allows for linking abundant accumulated household information with children's responses. We are promoting joint research with the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Educational Policy Research. We also conducted joint research with the OECD on income inequality and employment using JHPS data, and the results are summarized in OECD (2015), "In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All?" and the "OECD Employment Outlook 2015."