Koizumi Carried the Day: Did the Japanese Election Results Make People Happy and Unhappy?

36 Pages Posted: 18 Jul 2007

See all articles by Yoshiro Tsutsui

Yoshiro Tsutsui

Kyoto Bunkyo University

Miles S. Kimball

University of Colorado Boulder; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics; Center for Economic and Social Research, USC; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Fumio Ohtake

Osaka University - Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research

Date Written: July 2007

Abstract

This paper investigates whether Japanese people were happy and unhappy with the general election conducted on September 11, 2005, in which the Prime Minister, Koizumi, won a landslide victory. We conducted a large survey just after the election to ask people how happy they were and which party they had supported. Although there are consistent tendencies that supporters of ruling parties were happier and supporters of opposition parties were unhappier, the effect was not significant. Considering the results of a previous study that showed that Americans demonstrated significant responses to the result of a presidential election, this study suggests that Japanese people are indifferent to politics.

Keywords: election, happiness, Koizumi Cabinet, survey, Japan

JEL Classification: I31, D72, C42

Suggested Citation

Tsutsui, Yoshiro and Kimball, Miles S. and Ohtake, Fumio, Koizumi Carried the Day: Did the Japanese Election Results Make People Happy and Unhappy? (July 2007). ISER Discussion Paper No. 695, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1001391 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1001391

Yoshiro Tsutsui (Contact Author)

Kyoto Bunkyo University ( email )

Senzoku-80 Makishimacho
Uji, Kyoto 611-0041
Japan

Miles S. Kimball

University of Colorado Boulder ( email )

Campus Box 256
Boulder, CO 80309
United States
303.492.8295 (Phone)
303.492.8960 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.colorado.edu/Economics/people/faculty/kimball.html

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics ( email )

611 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1220
United States
734-764-2375 (Phone)
734-764-2769 (Fax)

Center for Economic and Social Research, USC ( email )

635 Downey Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089-3332
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Fumio Ohtake

Osaka University - Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research ( email )

1-7 Machikaneyamacho
Toyonaka
Osaka, 560-0043
Japan

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
63
Abstract Views
987
Rank
627,735
PlumX Metrics