A Comparative Study of Subjective Happiness in China and Japan

Abstract

Based on CGSS2012 and JGSS2012 datasets, the author of this paper conducts a comparative analysis of Chinese and Japanese peoples subjective happiness. And the determinants are roughly divided into two groups, including socioeconomic factors and social capital factors. The findings are as follows: Social capital factors proved to have strong influence on both Chinese and Japanese society. Our model testified that these selected social capital factors are crucial in determining individuals happiness. However, social capital factors affect happiness in different way. When comparing male and female in each country, males happiness is more related to social capital than female in Japan. On the contrary, there is no big difference by gender in China.