Discussion Papers

How does working in the management position affect health and subjective well-being?: Evidence from Japan

DP Number DP2022-002
Language 日本語のみ
Date June, 2022
Author Kazuma Sato
JEL Classification codes I31; M51
Keywords Happiness; Subjected rated health; Management position
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Abstract

Many pieces of research examined the impact of working in a higher occupation position on health and subjective well-being (SWB). Recent studies using panel data have shown mixed evidence; some studies have indicated that working in a management position improves health and SWB, whereas others have suggested that it worsens health and SWB. Furthermore, as most studies have used the data from European countries, it has not been examined whether similar results can be gained even when using the data from other regions such as Asia. This study examines the impact of working in a management position on health and SWB using Japanese panel data, the Japan Household Panel Survey (JHPS/KHPS). This study focuses on the gender difference of the impact of working in a management position by considering the Japanese situation that set the policy goal of increasing the number of working women in management positions. The estimated result of this study shows four findings. First, the fixed effect OLS results indicate that working in a management position does not affect health and happiness for both men and women. Second, although working in a management position increase the earnings of men and women, it does not affect the satisfaction of household income. This result indicates that the monetary reward of working in a management position cannot be enough to offset the burden of work. Third, happiness does not increase for both men and women several years before and after the promotion to a management position. However, self-rated health worsens two years after the promotion for women and one year after the promotion for men. Fourth, although the husband's work in managerial positions does not affect his wife's health and happiness, the wife's work in managerial positions harms the husband's self-rated health and happiness.