Suchergebnisse

Dieser Beitrag hat zum Ziel, Möglichkeiten zu untersuchen und zu diskutieren, wie qualitative Inhaltsanalyse als (Text-) Interpretationsmethode in der Fallstudienforschung angewendet werden kann. Zunächst wird die Fallstudienforschung als eine Forschungsstrategie innerhalb der qualitativen Sozialforschung kurz dargestellt. Danach folgt eine Einführung in die (qualitative) Inhaltsanalyse als Interpretationsmethode für qualitative Interviews und anderes Datenmaterial. Abschließend wird der Einsatz qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse bei der Fallstudienentwicklung untersucht und bewertet. Der Autor plädiert für den Einsatz von Fallstudienforschung als Forschungsstrategie und qualitativer Inhaltanalyse als Methode zur Untersuchung von Datenmaterial. Ziel ist es, die Integration von qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse in die Datenauswertung bei Fallanalysen anzuregen.

The current shift in demographics – aging and shrinking populations – in many countries around the world presents a major challenge to companies and societies alike. One particularly essential implication is the emergence and constant growth of the so-called "silver market", the market segment more or less broadly defined as those people aged 55 and older. Increasing in number and share of the total population while at the same time being relatively well-off, this market segment can be seen as very attractive and promising, although still very underdeveloped in terms of product and service offerings. This book offers a thorough and up-to-date analysis of the challenges and opportunities in leveraging innovation, technology, product development and marketing for elder consumers and employees. Key lessons are drawn from the Japanese lead market as well as other select countries.

The current shift in demographics – aging and shrinking populations – in many countries around the world presents a major challenge to companies and societies alike. One particularly essential implication is the emergence and constant growth of the so-called ""silver market"", the market segment more or less broadly defined as those people aged 55 and older. Increasing in number and share of the total population while at the same time being relatively well-off, this market segment can be seen as very attractive and promising, although still very underdeveloped in terms of product and service offerings. This book offers a thorough and up-to-date analysis of the challenges and opportunities in leveraging innovation, technology, product development and marketing for elder consumers and employees. Key lessons are drawn from the Japanese lead market as well as other select countries.

This paper sets out to investigate (i) whether an increase in donations in the aftermath of disasters can mitigate the negative effects on subjective well-being (SWB), and if so, (ii) whether policy measures such as tax law changes can amplify this mitigating effect by providing further incentives for donations. To analyse these questions we use data on a recent, impactful disaster: the triple disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011 in Japan (3-11). Coincidentally, only three month after the disaster, a long planned change in tax law was put into effect which allows higher tax deductions for charitable donations. Applying a moderated mediation analysis to a unique dataset, we are able to disentangle the total rise of donations into positive effects that are caused by the disaster itself, and positive effects that are caused by the recent change in the Japanese tax law. The results of our study are twofold: First, we show that about 40% of the direct negative effect of 3-11 on SWB is mediated and mitigated by donations. Second, we show that the change in taxation law could have further mitigated the negative SWB effects of 3-11, if more people had been aware of it. However, since a large majority of the Japanese public had not even been aware of the tax law change, potential mitigating effects by increased donations have not been realized. As for policy implications, our results show that governments can create incentives for donations that not only support disaster reconstruction, but also mitigate the negative SWB effects of disasters.

In happiness economics the negative effect of natural disasters on subjective well-being (SWB) tends to be underestimated by ignoring the fact that disasters also induce charitable donations which are positively related to SWB. Using data from recent Japa-nese Government Surveys on the triple disaster of March 11 (3-11) our analysis con-firms this. We find that as much as one third of the negative effects of 3-11 on SWB are mitigated by the positive effects of charitable donations. A spatial analysis further reveals that the mitigating effects of charitable donations are especially prominent in medium to close distance to the disaster area.

Subjective well-being, especially measured in terms of "happiness" and "life satisfaction", is increasingly considered an important policy goal around the globe. The fact that the Japanese government decided in 2010 to focus its annual survey, the National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences, on happiness and its determinants is just one indicator of this importance also in Japan. Based on the most recent survey data from the years 2010 to 2012 this study analyses happiness over the lifespan with a special focus on gender differences. An analysis of the happiness level over the lifespan is especially interesting in the case of Japan, since the country is known for its relatively traditional, rigid social structures with predetermined life courses and carrier paths. Furthermore, research has revealed strong gender differences across various social indicators in Japan and these differences are also reflected in the correlates of happiness. Although previous happiness studies in Japan have also included gender in their analysis, the present study is unique in two respects: First, the underlying dataset is not only the most current one available for Japan, with over 9000 observations it is also very comprehensive. Second, in a subset of the data not only the "happiness level" but also the "life satisfaction" of the respondents is recorded, which allows a unique differentiation of the two concepts stratified by gender. Results indicate for example that while household income affects happiness and life satisfaction equally for men and women, the latter show a stronger negative correlation with life satisfaction when having no savings. Overall, the present study provides the first overview of recent happiness and life satisfaction data in Japan from a gender and age perspective.

Happiness economics has become an established field of research, and happiness and life satisfaction are increasingly considered important policy goals by governments around the globe. The Japanese government has recently started to follow this trend by regularly collecting data on personal happiness and its determinants through nationwide surveys since 2010. Analyzing data from the 2011 National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences, this paper has three aims: First, we use the Japanese happiness data to check for similarities and differences compared to well-known findings established in the international literature. Second, from a Japanese perspective we contribute to ongoing debates regarding inconclusive findings. Third, we analyze the happiness effects of variables neglected by previous research, such as loneliness and of new variables such as the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11. Overall, our results confirm the majority of determinants established by previous studies in the field of happiness economics, such as income, unemployment and marriage. But we find significant differences regarding the effects of entrepreneurship and political participation. In addition, we identify loneliness as the most influential determinant of happiness in Japan. Finally, we find no statistically significant drop in happiness after the March 11 disaster.