This paper uses Japanese data which includes measures of self-declared satisfaction, reference-group income, and the direction and intensity of income comparisons. Relative to Europeans, the Japanese compare more to friends and less to colleagues, and compare their incomes more. The relationship...

In order to respond to the social security needs of an increasingly aged population, many governments with limited budgets are required to focus available resources on the direct causes of people's anxieties about aging. This study investigated the causes of people's anxieties about life after...

The almost continuous stagnation of the Japanese economy for the past two decades has had an adverse impact on Japanese households from at least three perspectives: A decline in the standard of living, an increase in risks and uncertainties relating to livelihood, employment, old age, etc., and...