This paper provides numerical examinations on sustainability of genuine saving (GS) using theWorld Bank database. Unlikely to previous criteria of sustainability, we consider future sustainability by focusing on evolution of GS. In this case even if the historical average GS of a country is...

Ever since the classical works of Smith and Veblen, economists have recognized that individuals care about their relative positions and status in addition to their own consumption. This paper addresses a new framework of choice experiments in order to specify the shape of utility function with...

This paper provides evidence from Internet-based, large-scale survey data of hypothetical choice experiment on the relative utility hypothesis. The methodology exploited here complements previous empirical results from happiness studies, incentivized choice experiment studies, and neuroscience...

We address the local home environment externality conceptualized by Galor and Tsiddon (1997a; 1997b) in the two sector growth model of Lucas (1988). We show that this version of externality related to human capital accumulation process can be a source of indeterminacy. -- Local home environmental...

This paper combines three prototype endogenous growth models, the models with human capital accumulation introduced by Uzawa [1965] and Lucas [1988], variety expansion by Romer [1990], and quality improvements by Aghion and Howitt [1992], in order to investigate how these three engines of growth...

Employing a new accounting data set we apply the framework of McGrattan and Prescott (2005) to the Japanese economy in order to assess if Japanese stocks were priced correctly in the period after 1980. We find that the stock market tended to undervalue the fundamental value of installed capital....

After severe disasters, persons living not only in the directly affected areas, but also in distant areas could be seriously affected thorough images of the disaster on television and in newspapers. Hence, it can be difficult to define qualified beneficiaries for policy compensation in terms of...

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...

The caste issue dominates a large part of India's social and political life. Caste shapes Indians' identities, and strong tensions exist between castes. This paper evaluates how caste-based comparisons may be exacerbated in such a conflictual context. Using subjective well-being data from an...

We consider a dynamic macroeconomic model with households that regard relative affluence as social status. The measure of relative affluence can be the ratio to, or the difference from, the social average. The two specifications lead to quite different results: with the ratio specification full...