Financial Literacy and Exercise Behavior: Evidence from Japan

Shunsuke Ono, Pattaphol Yuktadatta, Takafumi Taniguchi, Tomoe Iitsuka, Masafumi Noguchi, Sawa Tanaka, Haruka Ito, Kousei Nakamura, Nanako Yasuhara, Chihiro Miyawaki, Katsumi Mikura, Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan and Yoshihiko Kadoya
Additional contact information
Shunsuke Ono: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Pattaphol Yuktadatta: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Takafumi Taniguchi: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Tomoe Iitsuka: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Masafumi Noguchi: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Sawa Tanaka: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Haruka Ito: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Kousei Nakamura: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Nanako Yasuhara: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Chihiro Miyawaki: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Katsumi Mikura: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan
Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan: School of Economics, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8525, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: Lack of exercise, which increases the risk of many serious physical and mental illness, has been a common health issue in Japan. Recent studies confirm that financial literacy discourages irrational behavior like gambling and smoking. We therefore investigate how financial literacy, as a rational decision-making instrument, relates to peoples’ exercise behavior in Japan. We hypothesize that financial literacy encourages people to exercise regularly. Using Osaka University’s Preference Parameters Study (PPS) for 2010, we categorized respondents into two groups: those who exercise regularly or at least once a week and those who do not. Our probit estimation results show that financial literacy is positively related with exercise behavior, meaning that financially literate people are more likely to exercise regularly. As the COVID-19 health pandemic seems to exacerbate peoples’ physical inactivity, the results of our study show an alternative approach to encourage exercise. We therefore recommend that governments implement a financial literacy improvement policy to alleviate the lack of exercise.

Keywords: exercise; financial literacy; rationality; Japan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4189/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4189/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4189-:d:532911

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().