Research Activities

Research Projects

Evolving Migrants: How Family Migration Shapes Economy and Society in Japan (2020_1_40_011)

Outline

An important issue in policy debates around international migration is how the gains and costs from immigration are being broadly shared. The gains and costs crucially relate to household structures of foreign populations, which may change overtime. The aim of this project, “Evolving Migrants,” is to study the transition from the influx of single migrant workers to the immigration of families and the household formation of immigrants. However, family migration can broadly affect the economies and societies of host countries, and it is not clear how changes in the household characteristics of foreign populations affect gains and costs from immigration. The project empirically characterizes changes and diversity in the household behavior of foreign workers in Japan over the last four decades. The project also theoretically develops a collective household model of foreign populations so as to understand the impacts of the rise of foreign populations from the following channels of household decision-making: bargaining, intrahousehold resource allocation, outsourcing of home production, housing, location decisions, consumption, childcare, education, or cultural production. Our alternative model incorporates these realistic and multi-dimensional features of longer-term household decisions of foreign populations. To contribute to Japan’s immigration policy, we combine qualitative analysis with quantitative research, examining how family migration reshapes economies and societies.

Period

April 2020 - March 2021

Members of the Research Project
[ Organizer ] Yamaguchi Mami
[ Co-researcher ] Yamada Nanae
[ Co-researcher ] Hakozaki Dai
[ Co-researcher ] Machikita Tomohiro (University of KyotoAssociate Professor)
[ Co-researcher ] Liu Yang (RIETI Researcher)
Publications
  • Research Project Report (Interim Report) / Basic Theoretical Research Report
  • Web