東京大学政策評価研究教育センター

CREPEDP-41

Number CREPEDP-41
Publication Date April 2018
Title Do Central Government Grants Affect Welfare Caseloads? Evidence from Public Assistance in Japan
Author(s) Masayoshi Hayashi
Abstract This study examines the existence of a "loosening effect" on a local social policy of central funding by exploiting a specific mechanism in the Japanese system of central grants and two institutional changes in categorical grants for local social assistance programs. Despite performing various types of estimations, we fail to substantiate the existence of the loosening effect. This result indicates the dominance of central control over local discretion in public assistance programs, and suggests that important factors are administrative rather than fiscal.
Keywords welfare caseloads, social assistance, fiscal transfers, Japan
Other information Paper in English (48 pages)