Higher Education Policy after COVID19: Empirical Analysis and Policy Disign with Perspectives from Behavioral Economics

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K18600
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 9:Education and related fields
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: AKABAYASHI HIDEO 慶應義塾大学, 経済学部(三田), 教授 (90296731)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小林 雅之 桜美林大学, 大学院 国際学術研究科, 教授 (90162023)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-06-30 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: 高等教育政策 / 行動経済学 / 奨学金制度 / 実証分析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The first paper empirically examines, for the first time in Japan, the effects of receiving student loans on marriage and childbearing using nationwide data. The results show that, particularly among women who completed a two-year college, recipients of student loans tend to marry later and have fewer children compared to non-recipients. This provides quantitative evidence of the impact of student loans on family formation. The second paper analyzes how parental assets, permanent income, and the individual’s time preferences and risk attitudes influence both access to higher education and the likelihood of receiving student loans. The third paper utilizes student survey data collected by the economics faculty of a university during the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze how students’ family backgrounds and preferences affected their attitudes toward and engagement with online learning.

Free Research Field

教育経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

第１論文を出版したことで、奨学金制度の設計において、進学・就学環境への影響だけではなく家族形成への影響も考慮することが重要であること、少子化と非婚化が日本社会の最大の課題になりつつある中、その解決のためには、奨学金制度の改善も必要であることを示すことができた。この論文は、高等教育研究における国際的トップジャーナルの一つであるStudies in Higher Educationに掲載され、国内J-CAST、大学ジャーナルオンライン、教育新聞オンライン、国外では英国のTimes Higher Educationから取材が来て、ニュース記事で紹介された。