Japan has the highest suicide rates among the OECD countries and this public health problem seems to be accelerating in over the recent decades. Investigating and understanding the suicidal behaviour is of crucial importance to society and health policy makers. Such an investigation could...

This paper examines the cubic form hypothesis and the flying geese pattern hypothesis of income distribution. We use the time series data for the Gini coefficients of Korea for 1961-2006 and panel data calculated based on the household income survey for the period 1998-2008. We show; (1) The...

The Japanese General Social Survey was used to determine how individual preferences for income redistribution are affected by family structure, such as the number of siblings and birth order where individuals grow up. After controlling for various individual characteristics, the important...

Previous research shows that decentralization plays a key role in the reduction of damage caused by natural disasters. The effect of decentralization will differ according a country’s level of economic development. To investigate this matter further, this paper attempts to investigate how...

A growing number of studies have explored the influence of institution on the outcomes of disasters and accidents from the viewpoint of political economy. This paper focuses on the probability of the occurrence of disasters rather than disaster outcomes. Using panel data from 98 countries, this...

A growing number of studies have explored the influence of institution on the outcomes of disasters and accidents from the viewpoint of political economy. This paper focuses on the probability of the occurrence of disasters rather than disaster outcomes. Using panel data from 98 countries, this...

This paper, using individual data from Japan, explores how the circumstances of where a person resides is related to the degree of their investment in social capital. Controlling for unobserved area-specific fixed effects and various individual characteristics, I found: (1) Not only is the rate...

We analyze the effect of a wife’s human capital on her husband’s earnings, using individual-level data for Japan in the period 2000?2003. We find a positive association between a wife’s education and her husband’s earnings, which can be attributed to the assortative mating effect as well...

Using prefecture level data of Japan for the years 1979 and 1996, I explore the extent to which inequality, age heterogeneity, and social capital have an effect upon interpersonal trust. The major finding is that inequality is associated with low trust, while generational heterogeneity is...

In this article, I explore the extent to which the rational addiction model developed by Becker and Murphy (1988) can account for cinema attendance, using panel data from 47 Japanese prefectures for the years 1994-1998. Controlling for unobserved prefecture-specific fixed effects and an...