Field of Research

Labor Economics, Applied Econometrics

Research Topics

Unemployment, Inequality, Labor Supply, Consumption, and Health; Social Policy; Quantitative Analysis

Overview of Research

“Analyzing how social policies affect people and families.”

Why do people work? Why do people not work? For whom are their hard-earned wages used? How do people use their time? Who are actually the disenfranchised? How do social policies affect these issues? I am analyzing these themes with studies based on economic theories and analytical methods.

Economic approaches to analyze data relating to people and families is typically not mainstream. Using economic theory to explain the actions of individuals and families often invites the argument that people and their families behave in more complex ways than theory would suggest. In addition, it is said that data analysis does not account for human suffering, as pain is not visible in data. However, it is important to focus on conclusions derived from theories both when drafting and evaluating policies based on the results of relatively error-free data analysis.

There are many research themes that focus on people and families. The theme of my current research paper includes a wide variety of topics, like consumption, education, health, labor hours, housework, work environment, unemployment, crime, and disparity. The research theme deals with various spheres, such as law, medicine, sociology, and psychology. As such, I have investigated whether people and families need policies that draw on knowledge from these fields.

I have conducted various investigations and experiments in laboratories both domestically and abroad for the purpose of data analysis. The material below is from a study on job applicants that focused on ASEAN college students who wanted to work for Japanese-affiliated companies.

Message to Students

I hope that you learn how not to deceive with data or get deceived by it. In the lab, it is important to me that I use data related to the status of Japan nationally and globally while adopting many findings from abroad. Not only would I like to share my experience of gleaning new findings from data, but also the modest joy felt when the data confirms something that is oft-stated to be the obvious. Research is extremely engrossing.

KOHARA, Miki 
Professor
Degree: Ph.D. in Economics (Osaka University)
kohara@osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp