We are publishing to our related researchers this newsletter for the purpose of providing regular notice of the activities of the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. While we have provided information through the Institute’s website, we now decide to publish this newsletter as a means of communicating information actively in order to provide more timely notice of the Institute’s activities, so that readers can participate in our activities and have more accurate understandings of their content.
"Self-introduction"
On September 1, 2017, I joined the Institute of Economic Research at Hitotsubashi University, coming from the Cabinet Office of Japan.
Previously, I had two separate tenures in the government’s economic research office. First, I served in the Economic Research Institute at the Economic Planning Agency from 1994 to 1997. There, I was a part of the large-scale world econometric model team that conducted policy simulations. Furthermore, I participated in research projects headed by university professors, including Prof. Seike from Keio University for employment issues and Prof. Yamauchi of Hitotsubashi University for the deregulation of the transport industry. This was a time when Japan was reconstructing its trade policies, considering new bilateral or regional agreements. I had the privilege of being assigned as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s economic committee secretariat to conduct long-term projections on the basis of the global computable general equilibrium model, which I am still using for policy simulation.
My second period of research service was in the Business Statistics Department within the Economic and Social Research Institute at the Cabinet Office. This department publishes l statistics, such as the Consumer Confidence Survey and the Machinery Orders. It also produces indexes of business conditions. I was working there in 2010 when many monthly statistics were influenced by the Lehman Shock, resulting in a distortion in seasonal adjustment series. Indexes of business conditions were also distorted by the trimming program for smoothing time series data. The East Japan Earthquake in 2011 presented further challenges with regard to producing nationwide survey data due to missing samples. Although I served for only a year in that position, my involvement in solving such difficult problems was a valuable experience that helped me to develop new skills and knowledge.
In addition to those experiences, I have fulfilled various other significant roles. I was responsible for the biannual mid-term economic and fiscal projections from 2004 to 2007 before I moved on to the OECD, where I was a Japan and Korea desk economist in charge of economic outlook and country surveys until 2010. Since the reactivation of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy in late 2012, I have served on this council as a secretary to board members, providing research support for their discussions of fiscal and social security issues.
Drawing on this extensive experience, I am now examining three issues within the general research area of policy evaluation. First, I am assessing the effects of trade policy and related business protection policies. Second, I am exploring the impact of demographic change on the economy along with considering policy options to preserve living standards. Third, I am conducting cost-benefit analyses of policies related to the healthcare and nursing care insurance system. Although none of these tasks are easy, I hope to conduct sound research step by step and arrive at practical policy implications.
The above description might leave an impression that I am a workaholic. This is definitely not the case! I often watch whole series of movies or dramas in one sitting. I am a big fan of horse racing and watch almost all major races and frequently visit racetracks in not only Japan but also other countries such as France, the US, Ireland, the UK, and Hong Kong. Thanks to my friends in the field of horse racing, I have many great memories of joining celebrations in the winner’s circle at racetracks. In such moments, I completely forget all my problems and the assignments that make up my daily work life.
"Wonderful Opportunity"
My name is Honda. I was seconded from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to the Institute of Economic Research in August 2017. While with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, I mainly worked in the Health Insurance Bureau and the Pension Bureau. I also assisted in the activities of the Public Assistance Division, which is responsible for policy on livelihood protection. In my work, I always have tried to examine data thoroughly. For example, while with the Health Insurance Bureau I described how the total number of patients undergoing examination and treatment in Japan had not increased since around fiscal 1993. It was an increase in individual costs of examination and treatment (medical care costs per visit) that was leading to an overall increase in medical care costs. Although many people still believe that the number of patients at medical institutions is increasing as the population ages, at the same time I believe that an understanding of the fact that the increase in medical care costs as a whole is due to an increase in medical care costs per visit is spreading to a considerable degree.
In the excellent environment afforded by the Institute of Economic Research, I plan to conduct research mainly on healthcare economics. I would like to study healthcare issues more from a resource perspective, including trends in medical institutions and doctors, than from a fiscal perspective.
For example, while medical institutions have made behavioral choices in response to healthcare policies (revision of medical fees) in order to improve their business conditions, I believe that it might be more important for the purpose of improving the business conditions of medical institutions over the long term to make behavioral choices based on the characteristics of the patients at each medical institution, and I would like to conduct empirical research on this point.
Exactly four months have passed since I came to the Institute, and due in part to the fact that I am a poor planner I have been spending my time mostly on arranging things. I intend to do my best to make the most of this wonderful opportunity, and I would appreciate your guidance and support.
