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Do Birth Allowances Increase the Birthrate?

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  • Ryuichi Tanaka
  • Toshiaki Kouno

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to empirically clarify the effect of birth allowances on fertility, using panel data from Japan's health-insurance unions. Approximately one-fourth of the total population of Japan is enrolled in health-insurance unions as insureds or their dependents, and more than half these unions independently pay a supplementary birth-allowance benefit, in addition to the statutory lump-sum birth allowance, to insureds' spouses who give birth. In this article we analyze the effect of these supplementary benefits on the crude birthrate for the wives (dependent spouses) of the unions' male insureds, using changes over time and between unions in the amounts of the supplementary birth-allowance benefits to take into consideration individual effects for each union. Our results show that supplementary birth-allowance benefits of ¥100,000 in health-insurance unions in which male insureds' (husbands') salaries are low increase the crude birthrate of these insureds' wives (the number of children per dependent wife) by 0.017 point, and that this effect is robust with respect to the potential endogeneity of supplementary benefit amounts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryuichi Tanaka & Toshiaki Kouno, 2011. "Do Birth Allowances Increase the Birthrate?," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 40-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jpneco:v:38:y:2011:i:1:p:40-58
    DOI: 10.2753/JES1097-203X380102
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    Cited by:

    1. Nakajima, Ryo & Tanaka, Ryuichi, 2014. "Estimating the effects of pronatal policies on residential choice and fertility," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 179-200.

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