Abstract
In this study, we analyze the causal relationship between internal migration and benefits and burdens from national and local finances.
First, we evaluate the benefits from national finances and transfers and local finances, and burdens from the national tax and local tax per capita by prefecture. Second, we perform a regression analysis by utilizing the empirical models that depend on benefits and burdens. Further, we test hypotheses about the causal relationship between internal migration and benefits and burdens using our empirical results.
Our results demonstrate that disposable income and national benefits reinforced internal migration in 2009 and local benefits reinforced it in 2014. Based on these findings, we suggest that the incentives of reinforcing internal migration have shifted from disposable income and national benefits to local benefits. This implies that local finances have greater effects than national benefits on reinforcing internal migration. Therefore, it is important to review local finances as they are expected to have a wider impact than national finances on internal migration.
