Male and Female Happiness in Japan During the 2000s: Trends During Era of Promotion of Active Participation by Women in Society

Female happiness has been paradoxically declining over recent decades in reverse proportion to expanding opportunities for women in developed countries, but this subject has not been explored in Japan. Using JGSS, we found that Japanese women have been slightly happier in both absolute and relative terms to men in the 2000s. While happiness of men aged 35–49 and 65 and over temporarily declined in the first half of the decade, women in age groups 20–34 and 65 and over gained happiness in the second half. Moreover, trends in life satisfaction in terms of economic aspects are similar for men and women, slightly advantageous to men in marriage, and largely advantageous to women in non‐market and non‐family aspects.     

Supplier density and at-home care use in Japan: Evidence from a micro-level survey on long-term care receivers

Following the introduction of the long-term care insurance scheme and deregulation of the market for at-home care services, Japan experienced a substantial increase in expenditure on care for the elderly. Using household-level survey data, we empirically examine whether the increase in care expenditure is associated with supplier density springing from the rise in the number of care providers following deregulation. We provide weak evidence that supplier density in the at-home care market is positively correlated with probability to use care or expenditure on care. Moreover, we find no link between the share of for-profit providers and the demand for at-home care services.     

Relative Performance Evaluations in a Model of Financial Intermediation

This paper focuses on the delegation by bank managers of lending decisions to their agents, typically subordinate employees of the bank. We assume that agents may base their decisions about lending to borrowers on decisions other banks have made about these same borrowers. Then we show that there exist some lazy or negligent agents who neither directly monitor the borrower nor imitate the other banks if managers use relative performance evaluations as incentive schemes. In addition, it is shown that the learning or adjustment process of agents exhibits cyclical dynamics. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D82, D83.     

Behaviour theory and soft transport policy measures

The aim is to propose a theoretical grounding of soft transport policy measures that aim at promoting voluntary reduction of car use. A general conceptual framework is first presented to clarify how hard and soft transport policy measures impact on car-use reduction. Two different behavioural theories that have been used to account for car use and car-use reduction are then integrated in a self-regulation theory that identifies four stages of the process of voluntarily changing car use: setting a car-use reduction goal, forming a plan for achieving the goal, initiating and executing the plan, and evaluating the outcome of the plan execution. A number of techniques are described that facilitate the different stages of the process of voluntary car-use reduction and which should be used in personalized travel planning programs.     

ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CONSUMER LIFESTYLES – USING A JAPANESE ENVIRONMENTAL INPUT–OUTPUT TABLE AND THE LINEAR EXPENDITURE SYSTEM DEMAND FUNCTION

In this study, we undertake some hypothetical experiments and predict the environmental effects of some changes in consumer behavior, using the Japanese Input–Output Table and the Family Income and Expenditure Survey for 2000. We estimate the demand function in a linear expenditure system (LES) and attempt to determine how changes in consumer behavior affect the environmental load induced by household consumption, using the ‘willingness to pay’ concept. Furthermore, we define an index to show the eco-efficiency of consumer behavior. Through such a study, we can determine what action is appropriate for a ‘sustainable consumption’ society. If some change of consumer behavior greatly improved utility while increasing the environmental load, then technological progress to reduce the environmental load must be stimulated. However, if other changes in consumer behavior increase the environmental load while not improving utility very much, then such changes should be strongly discouraged.     

R&D intensity for innovative and adaptive purposes in overseas subsidiaries: Evidence from Japanese multinational enterprises

This paper investigates the causes of R&D activities of overseas subsidiaries using firm-level panel data for Japanese multinationals. We distinguish between overseas innovative R&D (basic and applied research) and adaptive R&D (development and design) and examine how the intensity of each type of R&D is determined, using Amemiya Generalized Least Squares estimation. Our findings suggest that overseas innovative R&D aims at the exploitation of foreign knowledge, whereas adaptive R&D has no such aim. In addition, the size of the host country’s market positively affects both types, whereas geographic distance between the host and the home country has a negative impact. Finally, the parent firm’s knowledge is found to increase the size of overseas adaptive R&D but not innovative R&D. Based on a theoretical model, we interpret this evidence as showing that knowledge of the parent firm is not fully utilized in innovative R&D of its subsidiary.     

Self‐rated Health Status of Japanese and Europeans in Later Life: Evidence from JSTAR and SHARE

Using panel data from two surveys in Japan and Europe, we examine the comparability of the self‐rated health of the middle‐aged and elderly across Japan and European countries and across the survey periods. We find that a person's own health is evaluated using different standards (thresholds) across the different countries and survey waves. When evaluated using common thresholds, the Japanese elderly are found to be healthier than their counterparts in the European countries. Reporting biases causing discrepancies between the changes in individuals' self‐rated health and their actual health over the survey waves are associated with education and country of residence.