Table Of ContentSPRINGER BRIEFS IN ECONOMICS
DEVELOPMENT BANK OF JAPAN RESEARCH SERIES
Takashi Unayama
Introduction
to Japanese
Household
Surveys
SpringerBriefs in Economics
Development Bank of Japan Research Series
Series editor
Akiyoshi Horiuchi
Editorial Board Members
Shinji Hatta
Kazumi Asako
Toshihiro Ihori
Eiji Ogawa
Masayuki Otaki
Masaharu Hanazaki
Masaaki Komiya
Hideo Oishi
Jun-ichi Nakamura
Kenji Tanaka
Thisseriesischaracterizedbythecloseacademiccohesionoffinancialeconomics,
environmental economics, and accounting, which are the three major fields of
researchoftheResearchInstituteofCapitalFormation(RICF)attheDevelopment
Bank of Japan (DBJ). Readers can acquaint themselves with how a financial
intermediary efficiently restructuring firms in financial distress, can contribute to
economic development.
Theaforementionedthreeresearchfieldsarecloselyconnectedwithoneanother
in the following ways. DBJ has already developed several corporation-rating
methods,includingtheenvironmentalratingbywhichDBJdecideswhetherornot
tomakeconcessionstothecandidatefirm.Toevaluatetherelevanceofthisrating,
research, which deploys not only financial economics but also environmental
economics, is necessary.
The accounting section intensively studies the structure of IFRS and Integrated
Reporting to predict their effects on Japanese corporate governance. Although the
disciplineofaccountingisusuallyisolatedfromfinancialeconomics,structuraland
reliablepredictionisneverachievedwithoutsufficientandintegratedknowledgein
both fields.
Finally,theenvironmentaleconomicssectionislinkedtotheaccountingsection
in the following manner. To establish green accounting (environmental account-
ing), it is indispensable to explore what the crucial factors for the preservation of
environment(e.g.emissioncontrol)are.RICFiswell-equippedtoaddresstheacute
necessityfordiscourseamongresearcherswhobelongtothesethreedifferentfields.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13542
Takashi Unayama
Introduction to Japanese
Household Surveys
123
Takashi Unayama
Institute of Economic Research
Hitotsubashi University
Kunitachi, Tokyo
Japan
and
Research Institute of Capital Formation
Development Bankof Japan
Tokyo
Japan
ISSN 2191-5504 ISSN 2191-5512 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inEconomics
ISSN 2367-0967 ISSN 2367-0975 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inDevelopment Bank ofJapan ResearchSeries
ISBN978-981-10-7679-4 ISBN978-981-10-7680-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7680-0
JointlypublishedwithDevelopmentBankofJapan
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017962057
©DevelopmentBankofJapan2018
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublishers,whetherthewholeorpart
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom
therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublishers,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the
authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#21-01/04GatewayEast,Singapore189721,Singapore
Contents
1 System of Japanese Household Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Household Behaviors and Household Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Households in the Macroeconomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Fundamental Statistics in Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.3 Sampling Strategy of Household Surveys in Japan . . . . . . 5
1.3 System of Household Surveys in Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Issues in the Japanese Household Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.1 Household Versus Individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.2 Panel Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Glossary of Household Surveys in Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.1 Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.2 Family Income and Expenditure Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.5.3 National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure . . . . . 16
1.5.4 Survey of Household Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.5.5 Labour Force Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.5.6 Employment Status Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.5.7 Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.5.8 Housing and Land Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.5.9 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2 How Reliable Are Japanese Household Surveys? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2 Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.1 Differences in Household Characteristics
Across Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.2 Sampling Methods and Sample Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.2.3 Summary and Advice for Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
v
vi Contents
2.3 Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.3.1 Income Variables in Each Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.3.2 Comparison with Employer Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3.3 Annual Income and Income Reported in the Free-Entry
Diaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.3.4 Summary and Advice for the Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.4 Tax and Social Security Premium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.4.1 Tax and Social Security Premium in Each Survey . . . . . . . 47
2.4.2 Under-Reporting of Income, Tax, and Social Security
Premium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.4.3 Imputing Tax and Social Security Premium. . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.4.4 Summary and Advice for the Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.5 Consumption Expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.5.1 Consumption Expenditure in Each Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.5.2 Comparison of Consumption Expenditure in Each
Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.5.3 Survey Methods and High Priced Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.5.4 Sample Selection Bias and Consumption Expenditure . . . . 59
2.5.5 Summary and Advice for the Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
About the Author
Takashi Unayama is Associate Professor at Hitotsubashi University and visiting
scholaroftheResearchInstituteofCapitalFormation,DevelopmentBankofJapan.
Born in 1974, he received a bachelors degree in economics from University of
Tokyo in 1997 and a Ph.D. in economics from University of Tokyo in 2004. He
worked for Keio University, Kyoto University, Kobe University, and Ministry of
Finance before joining Hitotsubashi University.
vii
Chapter 1
System of Japanese Household Surveys
Abstract ThischaptergivesacomprehensiveintroductiontoJapanesehousehold
surveys.Householdsurveysplayanimportantrolenotonlyforacademicresearch,
butalsoforpolicymaking.Macrodata,orNationalAccounts,arenotsufficientto
fullyunderstandthestateoftheeconomybecausetheytelluslittleaboutheterogene-
ity among economic agents, which is critical information for policy makers in an
agingsocietylikeJapan.GiventheimportanceofJapan’smyriadhouseholdsurveys
in documenting heterogeneity in the behavior of Japanese households, systematic
knowledge is needed to appropriately employ this micro-data. This chapter brings
anoutlineofthesystemofJapan’sninehouseholdsurveys.Theircoverage,sampling
design,andavailableinformationareexplored.
· ·
Keywords Householdsurveys Japaneseeconomy Samplesurvey
1.1 Introduction
Inrecentyears,therehasbeenanincreasingrelianceonhouseholdsurveysinboth
academicandpolicymakingcontexts.Thereareseveralreasonswhysurveydataon
thehouseholdsectorhavebeguntoplayamoreimportantrole.Forone,household
consumptionexpenditure,whichcomprisesalmost60%ofgrossdomesticproduct
(GDP), is a key determinant of business cycles. In addition, in a country such as
Japan,wheretheeffectsofanagingpopulationareevident,analysesofhousehold
decision-making are necessary to address the problems related to low fertility, a
decreasingpopulation,andashortageoflaborsupply.
Toidentifytheunderlyingmechanismsofhouseholddecision-making,itisneces-
sarytoconstructagent-basedmicrodatabyconductinghouseholdsurveys.Although
macrodata,orNationalAccounts,provideimportantandconsistentaggregatedinfor-
mationonthehouseholdsector,heterogeneityamonghouseholdsisnotobservable.
Accordingly, household surveys are now indispensable in the fields of economics,
sociology,anddemography,amongothers.
Asaresult,theJapanesegovernmentsystematicallyconductsnumeroussurveys,
fromwhichcomprehensive knowledge abouthouseholdbehavior canbeobtained.
©DevelopmentBankofJapan2018 1
T.Unayama,IntroductiontoJapaneseHouseholdSurveys,
DevelopmentBankofJapanResearchSeries,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7680-0_1
2 1 SystemofJapaneseHouseholdSurveys
Nevertheless,itissometimesdifficulttouseJapanesehouseholdsurveys,especially
for foreign researchers. Capturing the complicated nature of household activities
requiresmanyquestions.However,becausenosurveycanaskhouseholdseverything,
theJapanesegovernmentconductsnumeroussurveys,whichjointlycaptureamore
completepictureofhouseholdbehavior.Notsurprisingly,thissystemofsurveysis
complicatedand,therefore,amorecompleteunderstandingofthesystemisneeded
tohelpresearcherschooseappropriatesurveys.
To address this difficulty, I outline the system of surveys, categorize them, and
provide details on each. First, I categorize household surveys in Japan based on
two dimensions: survey content and sampling strategy. This categorization helps
us to understand the relationship between the myriad household surveys. Second,
I discuss numerous issues to understand what is, and what is not covered by the
systemofJapanesehouseholdsurveys.Finally,Iprovideanoverviewofeachsurvey,
includingitspurpose,history,samplingmethod,andquestionnaires.
With regard to the categorization of surveys, survey content (i.e., the available
variables) is at the center of the discussion. In an economy, a household acts as
a capitalist, laborer, and consumer. In addition, non-economic aspects of human
behavior are as crucial. While these four aspects of household behavior overlap
somewhatandarecloselylinked,theyareusuallycoveredinseparatesurveys.Thus,
understandingwhichsurveycoverswhataspectsofhouseholdbehaviorisnaturally
thefirststeptounderstandingthesystemofJapanesehouseholdsurveys.
That said, it is also helpful to categorize household surveys according to their
samplingstrategy.Owingtothecostsofdatacollectionandprocessing,samplesizes
and survey frequencies are limited. Accordingly, in Japan, household surveys are
categorizedintotwotypes:time-series,whicharemorefrequent(typically,monthly),
butwithasmallersamplesize;andcross-sectional,whicharelessfrequent(typically,
quincentennial),butwithalargersamplesize.Thisdistinctioncanexplainwhysome
surveyshavequitesimilarcontent.
Therestofthischapterisorganizedasfollows.InSect.1.2,Iprovideanoverview
ofhouseholdbehaviorfromaneconomicsperspectiveaswellaslegalbackground
andsamplingstrategies.InSect.1.3,IexplorethecategorizationofJapanesehouse-
hold surveys and the relationships among them. In Sect.1.4, I discuss the issues
surrounding and limitations of Japanese household surveys. Section1.5 provides a
catalogue of Japanese household surveys, including detailed information on each
survey.Section1.6concludesthechapter.
1.2 HouseholdBehaviorsandHouseholdSurveys
1.2.1 HouseholdsintheMacroeconomy
Ahouseholdisdefinedasanentitythatconsistsofoneormoreindividuals.Theprin-
cipalfunctionsofahouseholdasaneconomicagentarethefollowing:tosupplylabor
intheformofhoursofwork;toundertakefinalconsumptionasaconsumer;andto
