A theoretical analysis of trade liberalization policy under endogenous labor supply and costs of time consuming consumption

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K01595
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07040:Economic policy-related
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Okawa Masayuki 立命館大学, 経済学部, 教授 (50291761)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 貿易の自由化 / 可変的労働供給 / 消費の時間費用 / 医療サービス産業

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I set up a small trading economy model with non-traded medical industry and analyzed the effects of liberalization of trade and immigration of medical workers under the setting of endogenous labor supply and consumption of medical service takes time. In Oda and Okawa (2018), we analyzed the welfare effects of liberalization of both trade of goods and immigration of foreign nurses in the medical industry. In the analysis we introduced education costs of foreign nurse. Okawa (2022) extended above model by assuming that consumption of medical service increases working time of laborers and increases labor income. Theoretical literature of international trade that introduced medical industry and immigration of medical workers is not abundant. Our analyses explicitly introduced the characteristics of the consumption of medical services that are neglected in the earlier literature . We obtained novel and interesting results in the analyses.

Free Research Field

国際貿易と貿易政策の理論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

少子高齢化が深刻化している日本では、医療従事者、特に看護師・介護福祉士の不足が深刻化している。しかし、日本では外国人看護師、介護士などの受け入れが進んでいない。医療サービスは他のサービスと異なり、疾病による患者の労働時間と所得損失を軽減し労働時間と所得を増加させるとともに、労働生産性の向上をもたらすという重要な特徴を持つ。
本研究では、医療サービス産業を導入し、医療サービスの持つ上記の特徴を明示的に導入し、貿易自由化と外国人医療サービス従事者の受入れ拡大策が受入れ国にもたらす分析を行い、新しい興味深い結果を得ている。本研究成果と政策的含意は、重要な社会的、学術的意義を持つことは明らかである。