While reflecting on the latest case of statistical misconduct, it is necessary to review how statistics-related work should be conducted by keeping up with changes in society. The government must consider a mechanism for that objective.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has released a report on investigations into the inappropriate treatment of basic wage structure statistics by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
The internal affairs ministry -- an organ responsible for administrative inspections -- was entrusted with the task of reviewing the latest case in place of the labor ministry, which had committed errors in initial stages of the affair. This was an unusual method adopted to secure the objectivity of such a review.
Wage statistics target about 80,000 places of business, grasping the amount of salaries paid by them, based on each of the features pertinent to workers, such as gender and length of employment. In revising the minimum wage and working to rectify the differentials between regular and nonregular employees, the statistics are an important index that serves as a basis for these tasks.
Although the labor ministry has officially said wage statistics are collected through door-to-door visits, it shifted the method to mail more than 10 years ago. The ministry had not obtained approval from the internal affairs minister for the change, based on the Statistics Law. The latest report stated that the labor ministry's statistics-collecting plan had been unreasonable, as there were only 260 personnel tasked with conducting the survey.
Despite being aware the ministry's method was contrary to its plan, successive officials in charge had left the situation uncorrected for many years. The report had every reason to bitterly criticize the ministry, by citing its "lack of work-to-rule awareness" and its "widespread practice of not rocking the boat."
Improve governance
The adverse effect of the ministry's ossified organizational structure has also been highlighted by the problem involving its monthly labor statistics.
The ministry had changed its survey method, given that a complete survey will burden corporations. Its neglect of proper procedures has resulted in the accuracy of statistics being impaired and in underpayments in employment insurance, among other services.
In consideration of the changes in society, including the spread of the internet, and the efficiency of administrative work, it seems necessary for the ministry to flexibly revise its method within a range in which survey results are not warped. This must be based on the assumption that appropriate procedures and transparency are secured.
Based on the lessons learned from the labor ministry's problem, it is important for the government to create a setup under which the survey method can be flexibly changed. It is also indispensable for each government ministry and agency to increase its statistics-related knowledge and shore up its checking mechanism.
It is advisable to consider a unified policy regarding the management of statistical work with the Statistical Commission, an expert panel at the internal affairs ministry, serving a central role in this respect.
In preventing a repeat of a similar problem, the labor ministry's organizational structure should also be debated.
When the internal affairs ministry checked all fundamental statistics in January, the labor ministry did not reveal the problem of its mailed surveys.
The report stated that the chief of a section in charge of the matter had not responded, for fear of hindering his section's operations.
The act of deliberately concealing the problem, amid the government's ongoing efforts to uncover the realities of the matter, must inevitably be criticized.
The report said the section in charge of statistical work is conducting its duty within a "closed-off world" and is not fulfilling its function. Measures should be devised to improve its organizational governance.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 12, 2019)
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