This study explored how social pressure related to parental preference for the sex of their children affects fertility. Pre-war and post-war generations were compared using individual level data previously collected in Japan in 2002. In the pre-war generation, if the first child was a daughter,...

Persistent institutions, which are captured by legal origin, are considered to influence the occurrence and intensity of economic crises. However, little is known about how changes in legal origin affect processes of economic development. Using non-European country data, this paper investigates...

Kahn (2005) found that ethnic heterogeneity reduces the number of deaths caused by natural disasters, a finding that is contrary to theoretical predictions. This paper casts doubt on this finding and uses cross-country data from 1965 to 2008 to conduct a re-estimation. To alleviate omitted...

In the Japanese Professional Baseball League (JPBL), the starting pitcher is announced prior to the game in the Pacific League (PL) but not in the Central League (CL). The author attempts to investigate how the release of information concerning a starting pitcher prior to the game affects...

This paper used individual level data in Japan to explore how a complainant’s past trial experience influences their satisfaction and incentive to bring a future lawsuit. Controlling for kinds of incidents and a complainant’s individual characteristics, the major findings were; (1) there is a...

This article investigates the relationships of a husband's education, family structure, co-residence with parents or in-laws, and child care, to labor supply and earnings among married Japanese women between 2000 and 2002. Whereas educated husbands reduce the labor supply of wives, their human...

This study uses Japanese prefecture-level data for the years 1979 and 1996 to examine how the relationship between government size and life satisfaction changes. The major findings are: (1) Government size has a detrimental effect on life satisfaction when government size impedes economic growth...

The lay judge system, a quasi-jury system, was introduced in Japan in May 2009. This article attempts to analyze Japanese people's attitude toward this system by examining whether they show a willingness to serve as a lay judge. The major findings from regression analysis are: (1) In general,...

Using individual survey data from Japan, this study investigates how frequency of contact with foreigners is associated with perceptions of the effects of increased immigration. The results show that frequency of contact with foreigners has a measurable effect on perceptions and that its...

It has been recently recognized that there is difference of preference between smokers and non-smokers. That is, smokers tend to be more impatient and prefer immediate benefits compared with non-smokers. If people follow their primitive instincts they will engage in sexual behavior. Hence,...