Comparison of social welfare among urban agglomerations considering productivity and living standard and implications to the national land spatial assessment

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21H01456
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 22050:Civil engineering plan and transportation engineering-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University (2023); Kagawa University (2021-2022)
• Principal Investigator: Kii Masanobu 大阪大学, 大学院工学研究科, 教授 (20426266)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 世帯効用モデル / 社会厚生 / 地方創生 / 集積効果 / 人口移動 / 都市経済モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Observed migration from small cities to large cities is primarily due to agglomeration effects, wherein large cities offer high productivity, vibrant economic activities, elevated wages, and numerous job opportunities. However, the concentration of people in these areas also leads to increased housing demand, longer commuting distances, and congestion, resulting in high costs associated with housing and transportation. Thus, agglomeration and congestion effects have positive and negative impacts on residents’ living utilities.
This study aims to develop a residential utility estimation model considering migration, agglomeration, and congestion effects across 221 urban areas in Japan. Based on this model, we analyze the impact of population dynamics in the 2010s on social welfare.

Free Research Field

都市・交通計画

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

研究結果のうち，1)大都市への人口移動が社会厚生が低下要因となりうること，および2)人口移動により，大都市と中小都市の効用差は拡大し，中小都市から大都市への人口移動が促進されうること，については，土地利用規制の厳しい欧米の大都市を対象とした既往の実証研究では十分検討されておらず，よりlaissez-faireに近い日本の都市を対象とした実証分析により，明らかにされた新たな知見である．
また，その結果に基づき，社会厚生の改善の観点から地域開発における一定の政策介入の正当性を議論し，地方創生策における雇用創出を社会厚生の観点から評価するという，社会的意義があると考える．