IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v120y2015i2p483-497.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional Factors Affecting the Satisfaction of Residents: Evidence from a Structural Equation Model in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Yoji Kunimitsu

Abstract

To sustain rural areas in Japan, policymakers pay attention to improvement of residents’ satisfaction. The present study empirically shows the causative factors for the personal and regional level of residents’ satisfaction in their daily lives. The ordered probit model was employed to explain personal factors and to quantify regional differences in the average satisfaction level. Regional differences were then regressed with the regional factors by using a structural equation model. Estimations demonstrated the following results. First, different from previous studies (Tsutsui, 2010 ), significant differences in regional satisfaction level were measured. Second, these regional differences were influenced by the economic revitalization, represented by job opportunities and average gross regional production; social capital, shown by the level of trust, altruistic norms and human networks; public facilities for basic human needs; and the town’s reputation perceived by the person outside. Social capital and reputation from outside had the strong impact on the regional satisfaction level. Third, social capital was low at a town where economic revitalization level was high, showing a tradeoff effect, whereas the construction of public facilities advanced in the town where the revitalization level was high. These tradeoff and supplemental effects can be explained by urbanization as substantial variable. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Yoji Kunimitsu, 2015. "Regional Factors Affecting the Satisfaction of Residents: Evidence from a Structural Equation Model in Japan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(2), pages 483-497, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:120:y:2015:i:2:p:483-497
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0600-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-014-0600-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-014-0600-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    2. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    3. Edson Tandoc & Bruno Takahashi, 2013. "The Complex Road to Happiness: The Influence of Human Development, a Healthy Environment and a Free Press," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 537-550, August.
    4. Petra Böhnke, 2008. "Does Society Matter? Life Satisfaction in the Enlarged Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 189-210, June.
    5. C. Graham & S. Pettinato, 2002. "Frustrated Achievers: Winners, Losers and Subjective Well-Being in New Market Economies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 100-140.
    6. John F. Helliwell, 2006. "Well-Being, Social Capital and Public Policy: What's New?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(510), pages 34-45, March.
    7. Litchfield, Julie & Reilly, Barry & Veneziani, Mario, 2012. "An analysis of life satisfaction in Albania: An heteroscedastic ordered probit model approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 731-741.
    8. Liliana Winkelmann & Rainer Winkelmann, 1998. "Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy?Evidence from Panel Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 1-15, February.
    9. Easterlin, Richard A., 1995. "Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 35-47, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yushi Kunugi & Toshi H. Arimura & Miwa Nakai, 2021. "The Long-Term Impact of Wind Power Generation on a Local Community: Economics Analysis of Subjective Well-Being Data in Chōshi City," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2009. "The 60s Turnaround as a Test on the Causal Relationship between Sociability and Happiness," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 209, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    3. Tekleselassie, Tsegay Gebrekidan, 2016. "Three essays on the impact of institutions and policies on socio-economic outcomes," Economics PhD Theses 1316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    4. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola Berlepsch, 2014. "Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 357-386, April.
    5. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2006. "Knowing what is good for you: Empirical analysis of personal preferences and the "objective good"," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 285-307, April.
    6. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2012. "Relative concerns of rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 421-441.
    7. Juncal Cuñado & Fernando Gracia, 2012. "Does Education Affect Happiness? Evidence for Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 185-196, August.
    8. Pénard, Thierry & Poussing, Nicolas & Suire, Raphaël, 2013. "Does the Internet make people happier?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 105-116.
    9. Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2008. "Putting a price tag on friends, relatives, and neighbours: Using surveys of life satisfaction to value social relationships," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1459-1480, August.
    10. Mentzakis, Emmanouil & Moro, Mirko, 2009. "The poor, the rich and the happy: Exploring the link between income and subjective well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 147-158, January.
    11. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2005. "Knowing what is good for you: empirical analysis of personal preferences and the 'objective good'," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6270, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Michela Ponzo, 2011. "Occupational Status and Individual Subjective Well-Being in Italy," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 3, September.
    13. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2004. "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(3), pages 393-415, October.
    14. Alem, Yonas & Köhlin, Gunnar, 2012. "Life Satisfaction in Urban Ethiopia: Trends and determinants," Working Papers in Economics 548, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    15. Stefano Bartolini & Ennio Bilancini, 2007. "The Social Context of the Labor Supply," Department of Economics University of Siena 511, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    16. Orlowski, Johannes & Wicker, Pamela, 2015. "The monetary value of social capital," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 26-36.
    17. Rafael Di Tella & Robert J. MacCulloch & Andrew J. Oswald, 2003. "The Macroeconomics of Happiness," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 809-827, November.
    18. Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi & Knight, John, 2007. "Community, comparisons and subjective well-being in a divided society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 69-90, September.
    19. Worawan Chandoevwit & Kannika Thampanishvong, 2016. "Valuing Social Relationships and Improved Health Condition Among the Thai Population," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 2167-2189, October.
    20. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:120:y:2015:i:2:p:483-497. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.