Specialization and Happiness: A U.S.-Japan Comparison

Hiroshi Ono () and Kristen Schultz Lee ()
Additional contact information
Kristen Schultz Lee: University at Buffalo, SUNY, Postal: Department of Sociology, 430 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260-4140, USA

No 631, SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance from Stockholm School of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between specialization and happiness in marriage in the U.S. and Japan. Our findings, based on the General Social Surveys in the U.S. and Japan, indicate both similarities and differences in the determinants of marital happiness in the two countries. In the U.S., the findings are mixed. Women in the U.S. are more likely to embrace the bargaining model where their happiness is determined by their own income. Men in the U.S. are more likely to support the specialization model; they are happier if their wives are not working or, alternatively, if they are financially dependent on their wives. In Japan, we find support for the specialization model, particularly in the case of women; they are happier if they are specialized in the household and they have a higher household income. Our research highlights how marital quality is affected by the institutional context and the normative environment.

Keywords: gender; family; marital happiness; specialization; bargaining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J12 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2006-05-01, Revised 2008-02-18
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe, nep-ltv and nep-sea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in Social Science Research, 2008, pages 1216-1234.

Downloads: (external link)
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/papers/hastef0631.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:hastef:0631

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance from Stockholm School of Economics The Economic Research Institute, Stockholm School of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, 113 83 Stockholm, Sweden. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Helena Lundin ().