Behavior In Japan Research Articles

The Emergence of a Parallel World: The Misperception Problem for Bank Balance Sheet Risk and Lending Behavior

We examine the reason why two opposing views on distressed banks' lending behavior in Japan's postbubble period have coexisted: one is stagnant lending in a capital crunch and the other is forbearance lending to low-quality borrowers. To this end, we address the measurement problem for bank balance sheet risk. We identify the credit supply and allocation effects of bank capital in the bank loan equation specified at the loan level, thereby finding that the parallel worlds, or the two opposing views, emerge because the regulatory capital does not reflect the actual condition of increased risk on bank balance sheets, while the market value of capital does. By uncovering banks' efforts to increase regulatory capital in Japan's postbubble period, we show that banks with low market capitalization, and which had difficulty in building up adequate equity capital for their risk exposure, decreased the overall supply of credit. Parallel worlds can emerge whenever banks are allowed to overvalue assets at their discretion, as in Japan' postbubble period.

Activity-Friendly Built Environments in a Super-Aged Society, Japan: Current Challenges and toward a Research Agenda.

There is a growing recognition of the role of built environment attributes, such as streets, shops, greenways, parks, and public transportation stations, in supporting people’s active behaviors. In particular, surrounding built environments may have an important role in supporting healthy active aging. Nevertheless, little is known about how built environments may influence active lifestyles in “super-aged societies”. More robust evidence-based research is needed to identify how where people live influences their active behaviors, and how to build beneficial space in the context of super-aged societies. This evidence will also be informative for the broader international context, where having an aging society will be the inevitable future. This commentary sought to move this research agenda forward by identifying key research issues and challenges in examining the role of built environment attributes on active behaviors in Japan, which is experiencing the longest healthy life expectancy, but rapid “super-aging”, with the highest proportion of old adults among its population in the world.

Review of analog studies on problematic eating behaviors in Japan and future directions for clinical practices

Review of analog studies on problematic eating behaviors in Japan and future directions for clinical practices

Making a Good Impression at Work: National Differences in Employee Impression Management Behaviors in Japan, Korea, and the United States

ABSTRACTImpression management has important implications for success at work. This study explores differences in impression management in the East and West by examining the use of self-promotion, ingratiation, and exemplification directed towards three targets: supervisors, peers, and subordinates among 945 company employees from Japan, Korea, and the United States. Our results show that Korean employees used all three strategies most frequently, followed by United States, and then Japanese employees. Japanese and Korean employees used impression management strategies differentially across the three targets, and U.S. employees used impression management equally across targets. This elucidates how cultural trends in hierarchical relationships impact social behavior within the workplace. A follow-up mediation analysis found that relational or labor mobility fully mediated country differences in impression management, suggesting that culture is also reflected in larger social ecological trends in employee's ability and likelihood to change jobs, which also account for impression management strategy usage. Theoretical and practical implications for international business are discussed. This research may be useful in aligning strategies foreign employees might employ for using impression management when in Japan, Korea, and the United States.

Geographical distribution estimation of phenological date of human behaviors in Japan

Geographical distribution estimation of phenological date of human behaviors in Japan

Liberalization of a retail electricity market: Consumer satisfaction and household switching behavior in Japan

Policy makers pursue open markets through deregulatory reform based on a belief that they increase economic efficiency and produce benefits for consumers mainly through price reductions. However, the superiority of competition over regulated monopolies is not established. In a liberalized market, consumers exercising their ability to choose a utility provider is a crucial way of shaping the outcomes of deregulatory reform. While achieving a high switching rate is not the ultimate goal of market reform, it is an important tool through which consumers gain from policy form. We use data from a Japanese household survey conducted before and after recent liberalization and find a positive impact of liberalization on consumer satisfaction by enabling consumers to choose an electricity provider. This result indicates that switching can be utility improving by increasing customer satisfaction and underlines the importance of switching behavior in effectively utilizing deregulatory reform. This study also examines a broad set of determinants of provider switching and discusses the policy implications of the empirical results.

Empirical analysis of the effects of increasing wage inequalities on marriage behaviors in Japan

This study examines the effects of inequalities in the lower, rather than the upper, tail of wage distribution due to a declining labor market on marriage behaviors based on gender in Japan. I apply a median-preserving spread to a marriage search model and then empirically analyze the theoretical hypothesis for cross-gender marriage behaviors using extensive individual Japanese data from the Employment Status Survey. The theoretical and empirical results show that both genders’ wage inequalities in the lower tail have positive and statistically significant effects on increasing the probability of unmarried people across both genders. Female wage inequality in the upper tail also has a significant positive effect on the probability of unmarried men. On the other hand, an increase in male unemployment rates have positive and significant effects on the probability of unmarried women, even after controlling with wage inequality indices. In addition, the median wage for women has a significant and negative effect on the probability of unmarried men. These results highlight the policies to increase wages in the lower income class for both genders and to address unemployment for men in order to raise marriage rates.

A-7 入浴行動のモデル化に関する研究

A-7 入浴行動のモデル化に関する研究

Marriage and Fertility Behaviour in Japan: Economic Status and Value-Orientation

Marriage and Fertility Behaviour in Japan: Economic Status and Value-Orientation

Governance through Shame and Aspiration: Index Creation and Corporate Behavior in Japan

After decades of de-prioritizing shareholders' economic interests and low corporate profitability, Japan introduced the JPX-Nikkei400 in 2014. The index highlighted the country's “best-run companies by annually selecting the 400 most profitable of its large and liquid firms. We find that managers competed for inclusion in the index by significantly increasing ROE, and they did so at least in part due to their reputational or status concerns. The ROE increase was predominantly driven by improvements in margins, which were in turn partially driven by cutting R&D intensity. Our findings suggest that indexes can affect managerial behavior through reputational or status incentives.

Retiring for better health? Evidence from health investment behaviors in Japan

This paper examines the causal effects of retirement on health investment behavior among Japanese permanent employees. We find that the Japanese employees participate less in unhealthy habits (smoking and drinking) after retiring from their permanent employment, and after completely ceasing to work, they further increase participation in healthy life habits (regular exercise). We also find gender differences in these responses.

The validity and psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS)

BackgroundProlonged Internet use is often associated with reduced social involvement and comorbid psychopathologies, including depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive–compulsive disorder. Asian countries where Internet access is widely available have high reported levels of Internet addiction. As Internet use has changed drastically since concerns about Internet addiction were first raised, the results of recent studies may be inaccurate because the scales they employed to measure Internet addiction were formulated for different Internet usage from the present. It is thus necessary to develop more-up-to-date scales to assess problematic private use of the Internet.MethodsThe Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) was translated into Japanese. An online sample whose ages and sexes reflected that of the national population of Internet users was recruited to test the scale’s reliability and validity. Correlations between the scale and Internet-related parameters (such as time spent online, motivation for going online, and applications used) and psychosocial factors (such as psychological distress symptoms and loneliness) were examined. Psychometric properties were examined by the split-half method using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Model fits were compared across gender.ResultsCIUS was found to have a high reliability and good concurrent, correlation and construct validity. Both exploratory and confirmatory factors revealed that the one-factor solution yielded a satisfactory result across gender. However, the three-factor structural model in which compulsiveness was gauged by “excessive absorption”, “difficulty in setting priorities”, and “mood regulation” gave the best fit of the model for the general population as well as across gender.ConclusionsCompulsive Internet behavior in Japan can be assessed in terms of absorption, priorities, and mood. CIUS is a valid scale for screening compulsive Internet behavior in the general Japanese population regardless of age and gender.

The effects of higher education on childrearing fertility behavior in Japan

PurposeCost-benefit theory cannot explain the inverse relationship between education and fertility behavior among developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine psychological factors in fertility decisions, focusing on the number of children and determinants involved in the decision to have three or more children.Design/methodology/approachTwo empirical models were employed utilizing data from the Japanese General Social Survey of 2005 and 2006. An ordered logit model was used to examine how educational background impacts the number of children people choose to have. A logit model focused on psychological factors was used to investigate the effect of the burden of childcare on the decision to have more children.FindingsThe probability of a third birth declines as the number of years of education increases for women, but not for men. Women whose mothers were housewives tended to have fewer children, whereas women who live in families and are homeowners were likely to have more children. For women, the most influential factor in the decision to have a child was awareness of childrearing costs. Men from higher-class, higher-income families tended to have more children.Practical implicationsThe analysis indicates that maternal leave or systemic re-employment support can impact a woman’s decision to have a child.Social implicationsThe inverse relationship between women’s fertility behavior and education can be partially explained by the awareness among educated women of the duties and burdens of childrearing.Originality/valueThis study contributes to practical information concerning the role of psychological factors in fertility decisions.

Family Background, Education, and Adolescent Sexual Behavior in Japan

Family Background, Education, and Adolescent Sexual Behavior in Japan

Nobutaka Fukuda Marriage and Fertility Behaviour in Japan――Economic Status and Value-Orientation――

Nobutaka Fukuda Marriage and Fertility Behaviour in Japan――Economic Status and Value-Orientation――

"Y. EBATA:A Geolinguistic Study on the Greeting Expressions and Behavior in Japan"へのコメント

"Y. EBATA:A Geolinguistic Study on the Greeting Expressions and Behavior in Japan"へのコメント

A Geolinguistic Study on the Greeting Expressions and Behavior in Japan

本研究は,多様な地方差が見られる日本のあいさつ表現とあいさつ行動を地理言語学的に研究したものである.あいさつの調査票は日常のあいさつ表現について11分野,88項目で構成されている.実地調査は1994年から2000年にかけて,日本の全県で行い,併せて,通信調査を1997年から2000年にかけて,全国約500余地点で実施した.本稿には,二種のサンプル地図がある.一つは,「朝起きた時に家族にどんなあいさつをするか」であり,他の一つは「朝家族を玄関で見送る時のあいさつ行動はどのようであるか」である.研究の結果,次のことが明らかになった.1)朝起きた時家族に「オハヨーゴザイマス」とあいさつをするのは都市の家族であり,これは地方では聞かれない.都市においてこの表現が頻用されるのは,個室に分割された居住環境に基づく.地方の古い家では,障子や唐紙によって各部屋を仕切っただけの居住環境であり,朝起きた時に他人行儀なあいさつ表現を行わない.しかし,1960年以降の高度経済成長に伴い,この傾向は変化しつつある.ただし,2)「朝家族を見送る時のあいさつ行動」の地図が明示するように,都市には「イッテラッシャイ=イッテキマス」という行為(建て前)が見える.地方では「無言」(本音)があり,対立は厳然としている.あいさつ表現の言語地図を解釈するためには,社会生活の変化に対応した人間生活の変化とその意識を考慮しながら行う,ダイナミックな見方や感性が必要である.

The Impact of Social Influence Pressures, Commitment, and Personality on Judgments by Auditors: Evidence from Japan

ABSTRACTWe examine whether obedience and conformity pressures generated by superiors (partners) and colleagues within audit firms cause dysfunctional audit behavior in Japan. We also investigate whether high levels of professional and organizational commitment and the personal attributes of auditors mitigate these pressures. The results indicate that obedience pressure can impair the judgments of auditors, whereas conformity pressure does not have a significant influence. The application of a three-dimensional model of commitment and a five-dimensional scale of individual personalities reveals that dysfunctional audit behavior can be mitigated by enhancing affective and normative commitment, and by addressing highly masculine characteristics in individual auditors.

Courtship and Offspring Feeding in Passerines, a Study Using Citizen Volunteers

Abstract We summarize records of courtship and offspring feeding for 16 resident passerine birds based on long-term observations made by amateur ornithologists in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Courtship feeding was detected in nine passerine species, including two that had not been previously reported to perform this behavior in Japan. Fledgling feeding and food transport to nests were detected in almost all of the species. Courtship feeding was detected mainly in early spring, but in some species it also occurred in winter. We discuss briefly the implications of the results, as well as possible biases and limitations of citizen-based research.

Airport choice and flight connectivity among domestic and international passengers – Empirical analysis using passenger movement survey data in Japan

This paper presents an empirical analysis of airport choice and passenger movement on international flights from local cities in Japan to Narita and Haneda Airports in the Tokyo metropolitan area. This is the first study to evaluate airport choice behavior in Japan empirically by using the micro data collected by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2010 (i.e., when time slots for international long-haul flights were first assigned at Haneda). The analysis confirms that flight connectivity is a crucial element in airport choice.Further, Japanese airlines and their associated alliances are able to attract passengers arriving from local cities by using Haneda airport. Above all, we find that the introduction of long-haul international flights from Haneda has met the needs of a number of passengers arriving from local cities in Japan owing to the convenience of the domestic flight network, especially for business purpose passengers.