Measuring the Change in Japan's Quality-of-Life.

本研究提出了一个DEA/MI（数据包络分析/Malmquist指数）分析的生活质量（QOL）的变化，被定义为社会系统的状态测量的多个社会指标。运用DEA/MI方法对日本47个都道府县1975-2002年的面板社会指标数据进行分析，采用“累积”前沿移动指数对日本的生活质量变迁进行定量分析，结果表明，日本的生活质量在泡沫经济时期（80年代后半期）上升，在泡沫经济时期（90年代）下降。我们还发现了对生活质量变化负有责任的地区。此外，使用下界DEA与普通（上限）DEA，使生活质量评价在坏的方面，以及在好的方面。

This study presents a DEA/MI (Data Envelopment Analysis/Malmquist Index) analysis of the change in QOL (Quality Of Life) that is defined as the state of social system measured by multiple social-indicators. Applying the DEA/MI to panel social-indicators data of Japan's 47 prefectures for the period 1975-2002, we quantitatively see QOL transition of Japan using "cumulative" frontier shift index in the analysis.The results show that Japan's QOL has risen up for the bubble economy years (the last half of the 1980s) and dropped down for the succeeding lost-decade (the 1990s). We also find the prefectures responsible to the QOL change. Moreover, the use of lower-bound DEA together with the ordinary (upper-bound) DEA enables QOL evaluation in bad respects as well as in good respects.