In April 2000, Japan embarked on a reform of its health care market. Along with the introduction of the long-term care insurance scheme, the government for the first time allowed for-profit operators to compete head-on with non-profit operators in the provision of at-home care services. Taking...

In 2000, government deregulation along with the introduction of the long-term insurance scheme allowed for-profit providers of at-home care for the elderly to compete directly with nonprofit operators. According to the contract failure hypothesis, we would expect consumers to prefer nonprofit...

Using unique employer-employee matched data, this study reveals the existence of a nonprofit wage premium in Japan's child care industry. Nonprofits reward experienced workers with higher education, associated with the quality of care, more than their for-profit counterparts.

The aim of this chapter is to empirically examine the impact of health problems of the elderly on their own and their household’s income. Using micro panel data from the “Survey on Health and Retirement” focusing on the elderly, we estimate the effect on an individual’s income and his...

Following the introduction of the long-term care insurance scheme and deregulation of the market for at-home care services, Japan experienced a substantial increase in expenditure on care for the elderly. Using household-level survey data, we empirically examine whether the increase in care...

The use of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), a costly high-tech treatment for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is much more frequent in Japan than in other developed countries, resulting in large medical expenditure. Using chart-based data from the Tokai...

Along with the introduction of the long-term care insurance scheme, the Japanese government in 2000 for the first time allowed for-profit operators to compete head-on with non-profit operators in the provision of at-home care services. This study examines quality differentials between the...