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The products of efforts or the results of luck? The determinants of success the Japanese think

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Ogata

    (Credit Guarantee Corporation of Osaka-shi)

  • Miki Kohara

    (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University)

  • Fumio Ohtake

    (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University)

Abstract

What do the Japanese think that social success is attributed to? Is success in life obtained by one's efforts or just by luck? This paper examines the Japanese formation of values on social success. The paper focuses on the effect of economic conditions around the time of graduation. We use the Japan Household Panel Survey on Consumer Preferences and Satisfaction, which is compiled by Osaka University in 2009. Controlling for individual heterogeneity and removing biases and measurement errors possibly raised by objective answers on value formation, those who faced a slump one year before their graduation tend to have values that social success is attributed to luck rather than to own efforts. In addition, there is an apparent difference in value formation between men and women. The men's values are determined by past experiences including the labor market conditions at the time of graduation and living conditions when they were grown up. In contrast, the women's values are determined by present conditions, especially not absolute but relative economic conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Ogata & Miki Kohara & Fumio Ohtake, 2012. "The products of efforts or the results of luck? The determinants of success the Japanese think," OSIPP Discussion Paper 12J004, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    • Handle: RePEc:osp:wpaper:12j004
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    File URL: http://www.osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp/archives/DP/2012/DP2012J004.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Formation of values; Economic conditions; Relative income; Japan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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