In this paper we investigate why and to what extent the government should have a social security trust fund, and how it should manage the fund in the face of demographic shocks, based on a simple overlapping-generations model. We show that the government should have a trust fund in some form,...

The Japanese Longitudinal Survey on Employment and Fertility (LOSEF): the 2011 Internet Version was composed of 3 elements undertaken simultaneously via the Internet: 1) creation of a panel data set from transcription of administrative data (history of pension enrolment, salary history, etc.)...

In this study, we examined how the impact of child adversity on adulthood mental health is mediated by perceived social support and socioeconomic status (SES) in Japan, using micro data collected from surveys conducted in four municipalities in the Tokyo metropolitan area (N = 3,305). We focused...

Previous studies have provided evidence of the lasting impact of low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood on adulthood health. However, the mediating pathway that links them is still under debate. In this study, we examine how educational attainment, household income, and social support...

In this study, we examined the impact of childhood interpersonal adversity on adulthood subjective well-being, with a focus on the mediating and moderating effects of social support and socioeconomic status (SES). We concentrated on parental maltreatment (abuse and neglect) and bullying in...

This study attempts to examine relative income effects on perceived happiness in three major Asian countries -- China, Japan, and Korea -- in comparison with the United Sates, on the basis of largely comparable nationwide surveys in these countries. Consistent with the results from previous...

This study investigates what factors determine students’ academic performance in five major economies in East Asia, using the dataset from the 2007 survey of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). We explicitly consider initial maturity differences, endogeneity of class...

Our study employs an OLG model under which political strengths of different generations (the working and retirees with and without children) determine the distribution of the fiscal burden between the generations, including the future generation. We investigate the relationship between the...

This study examines retirement decisions in Japan, using the option value (OV) model proposed by Stock and Wise (1990) and examined by subsequent studies. This model assumes that an individual maximizes a weighted average of utility from labor income until retirement as well as that from pension...

We examine how regional inequality affects happiness and self-rated health at an individual level by using micro data from nationwide surveys in Japan. Individuals who live in the area of high inequality tend to report themselves as both unhappy and unhealthy, even after controlling for various...