The existing results for Japan on the trends in educational assortative mating are mixed largely due to data constraints. This study describes the trends in educational assortative mating in Japan using decennial population censuses conducted in 1980–2010 and discusses their social and demographic implications. Our simple log-linear model, which controls for changes in the educational composition of married couples, shows that the strength of the association for educational homogamy remained constant between 1980 and 2000, and dropped significantly in 2010. From 1980 to 2010, the strengths of the associations for educational homogamy and female educational hypergamy decreased, while, contrary to previous findings, both the share and the likelihood of female educational hypogamy increased. Our study also provides clear findings on the trends in educational assortative mating by education level and points to the emergence of new marriage behaviors, which are consistent with the observed shifts in educational pairing in Japan and across the globe. The likely explanation provided for the observed shift in the patterns of educational assortative mating is a combination of labor market bifurcations and concurrent shift in gender role expectations. We also point to that increasing economic uncertainty among male university graduates may blur economic boundaries between university graduates and other less-educated counterparts, accounting for some of the observed increase in educational hypogamy among highly educated women in Japan.

Previous studies on internal migration in Laos have not conducted an in-depth study of the relationship between inter-rural migration and rural-urban migration, as well as permanent migration processes to cities. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore characteristics of rural-urban migration in Laos by connecting the rural population dynamics with the migrants’ life course. Interviews were conducted with 42 households and 22 migrants who migrated from a lowland village in the northern fringe of Laos to Vientiane Capital. The results revealed that inter-rural migration from the highlands to the lowlands has been promoted as a national policy in Laos, which has had a significant impact on rural population dynamics. Consequently, there appears to be more active migration to cities. Urban migrants have entered the urban labor market in Vientiane as low-skilled workers. However, as they have settled in cities, they have improved their living conditions by changing their jobs. Although they have attempted to maintain their relationship with their village of origin, their ties with it have become weaker and eventually were cut-off as their working and living conditions in Vientiane were enhanced. Triggers for settlement are not only related to the labor market but also closely related to their children’ s education.

When dealing with the prediction of demographic data of multiple time series, the relationship between multiple time series data can be examined using the VAR model. In this paper, the Granger causality is examined using the package {vars} of R. At this time, the calculation becomes easy by using the Hyndman method. Here, in Examples 1 and 2, the results of predictions of demographic data considering Granger causality are shown, respectively.