Relative Concerns, Happiness and Reproductive Behavior

Junji Kageyama, Meikai University

This study aims to understand how differences in relative concerns lead to different patterns of reproductive behavior and economic performance. For this purpose, this study incorporates cross-country differences in relative concerns into an economic model and demonstrates that, after controlling for income, countries with greater relative concerns are characterized by lower fertility, higher education, faster economic growth, and lower happiness. These hypotheses are supported by regression analysis using cross-country data.