Long-term Care Insurance Facilities and Interregional Migration of the Elderly

Using municipality-level data of Japan, this paper empirically examines how the capacity of long-term care insurance facilities impacts interregional migration of the elderly. We construct net-migration data of the elderly population in each municipality by combining statistics available from existing sources. We find that interregional differences in capacity of long-term care insurance facilities generate strong magnetic effects on migration of the elderly. Our results indicate that family care is difficult and that long-term care insurance facilities are necessary for the late-stage elderly who are in need of long-term care.