日本における教育補助政策· 租税政策と人的資本蓄積

——異質な家計の存在する経済における一般均衡分析——

抄録

Effects of increased consumption taxes and educational subsidies on human capital accumulation and lifetime utility levels in heterogeneous households were clarified with an overlapping generations model. Effect on the level of public debt in Japan's economy was also investigated. Households at three life-stages were further categorized into five types of human capital accumulation defined by human capital technological levels.
The Japanese government is considering an increase in consumption tax to reduce the large public debt. However, with a declining work force, economic downturn is a significant concern. Positive educational policies may be needed to generate human capital and revitalize the economy. For policies to succeed, it is important to grasp the effects of policy changes on various household income levels because implementation may lead to a more unequal society with a widening educational gap. Although contributions to education are widely thought to contribute to human capital accumulation, few studies have been done that quantitatively analyze the effects of educational subsidies or tax policies on human capital accumulation, especially for the Japanese economy.
In response to the above issue, we conducted simulations and obtained the following two important findings. First, a trade-off exists among households that have different human capital technological levels when the government changes policies. When the government increases the rate of educational subsidies, households with higher and lower technologies of human capital accumulation obtain higher utility than those with middle levels of technology when a steady state is reached. On the contrary, a lower rate for educational subsidies leads to negative effects on the utility levels of households with higher and lower technologies, but households with middle levels derive a positive effect. Yet, households with the higher and lower technologies prefer only a consumption tax increase rather than an increase in both the consumption tax and educational subsidy. On the other hand, households with middle level technology prefer both changes. Second, if the government only increases the consumption tax rate, human capital accumulations are inhibited because individuals study less and work more. Therefore, the level of public debt will continue to increase at a steady state according to the results of our simulation.

JEL Classification: C68, H24, I28