The association of life satisfaction and self-rated health with income dynamics among male employees in Japan

Takashi Oshio, Maki Umeda and Mayu Fujii

Japan and the World Economy, 2013, vol. 28, issue C, 143-150

Abstract: In this study, we analyze how life satisfaction and self-rated health are associated with income dynamics. We used data from male employees in Japan (N=1004) drawn from a panel dataset of career wage records spanning a period of over 30 years. The income history used in this study was based on administrative records; thus, the data were almost free of recall error. Our results show that life satisfaction was more closely associated with a change in lifetime average income or maximum income than with a change in income compared to the previous year, whereas the opposite was true for self-rated health. In addition, life satisfaction tended to resist a decline in response to a fall in income from its average or maximum level, but this was not the case for self-rated health. Furthermore, an income peak experienced in the past made both life satisfaction and self-rated health more sensitive to changes in income, whereas a trough experienced in the past made them less sensitive. These findings suggest that the association of income between subjective well-being and health should be studied further, within a dynamic framework.

Keywords: Life satisfaction; Self-rated health; Income dynamics; Income profile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D3 I10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:japwor:v:28:y:2013:i:c:p:143-150

DOI: 10.1016/j.japwor.2013.09.003

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