An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Public Attitudes toward Implementing Basic Income (BI) from an Individual Perspective: A Case Study of Hokuriku Region, Japan

Jiaqi Yang, Geetha Mohan and Kensuke Fukushi
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Jiaqi Yang: Graduate Program in Sustainability Science Global Leadership Initiative, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 2778563, Japan
Geetha Mohan: Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, United Nations University, Tokyo 1508925, Japan
Kensuke Fukushi: Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, United Nations University, Tokyo 1508925, Japan

Societies, 2020, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: With increasing interest in basic income (BI) in recent years around the world, a precise understanding of public attitudes toward this policy can provide valuable evidence for discussions on its feasibility among scholars and policymakers. This study quantitatively investigates what factors influence public attitudes toward implementing BI, taking the Hokuriku region of Japan as an example. The hypothesis and variables were designed based on the theories of retrenchment and social innovation, and a detailed consideration of the theoretical impacts of BI on human society, and of the social, economic and cultural characteristics of Japan. A questionnaire containing a BI proposal for Japan was developed, then a survey was conducted of 1028 local residents in the Hokuriku region. The logistic regression model was employed for the empirical analysis. The results showed that age, individual income level, family structure and interest in participating in non-market activities tend to influence respondents’ attitudes toward BI, due to concerns about the gains and losses from a trade-off selection between BI and the existing policies that it would replace. From the perspective of individual value, it was also found that the perception of the future vision of a society reshaped by BI also significantly influences public attitudes toward the policy. This research emphasized that the retrenchment of the existing policies accompanied by the implementation of BI lead potential beneficiaries of the current welfare system to weigh the change to their benefits, which consequently forms their attitudes toward BI.

Keywords: basic income; public attitude; self-interest; individual value; policy; retrenchment; social innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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