Comparison income and subjective well-being: Evidence from a nationwide panel survey in Japan

Kenichi Shiraishi (), Kazuto Sumita (), Kazuki Kamimura (), Shohei Okamoto () and Kohei Komamura ()
Additional contact information
Kenichi Shiraishi: Faculty of Social Welfare, Gunma University of Health and Welfare
Kazuto Sumita: Faculty of Economics, Toyo University
Kazuki Kamimura: Faculty of Economics, Toyo University
Shohei Okamoto: Department of Policy and Planning Sciences, University of Tsukuba
Kohei Komamura: Faculty of Economics, Keio University

Economics Bulletin, 2026, vol. 46, issue 2, 415 - 428

Abstract: This study conducts a social comparison of income in Japan and is the first to consider geographical distance in relation to comparison income. The results of a fixed-effects ordered logit model analysis show that comparison income is negatively correlated with life satisfaction. Therefore, our study provides evidence for the relative income hypothesis. Furthermore, income comparison is not symmetric, in line with the idea proposed by Duesenberry in 1949. Therefore, individuals may feel a sense of relative deprivation when others earn a higher income. Conversely, there is a lack of relative satisfaction when others earn a lower income. These findings indicate that policies promoting the equitable distribution of economic resources can potentially enhance the well-being of the Japanese population.

Keywords: Life satisfaction; Fixed effects; Inverse distance; Comparison income; Social comparison (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D6 I3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06-30
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2026/Volume46/EB-26-V46-I2-P36.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:ebl:ecbull:eb-23-00533

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Economics Bulletin from AccessEcon
Bibliographic data for series maintained by John P. Conley ().