Life satisfaction, skills diffusion, and the Japan Paradox: Toward multidisciplinary research on the skills trap

Abstract

Recent research argues skills are the key to socio-economic success for individuals and societies, ranging from labor market outcomes to non-economic well-being. Drawing on these arguments, this study re-examines the linkage between the skills level of societies and people’s life satisfaction (LS), using the joint European Values Study–World Values Survey data for 48,930 individuals in 32 countries. Multilevel regressions confirm the positive association between these two variables, as suggested by the literature. However, there exists one outlier where the average LS score is markedly low despite its high skills level: Japan. Examining the mechanism behind this overall cross-national trend and Japan’s peculiar position—Japan Paradox—is a promising agenda for future multidisciplinary research, as it may reflect not only the favorable link between skills and LS but the hidden socio-economic structure—Skills Trap—that prevents highly skilled people from enjoying better well-being even under seemingly well-developed social conditions.

The Societal Determinants of Happiness and Unhappiness: Evidence From 152 Countries Over 15 Years

“…Apart from economic aspects, a vast literature has detected a range of social contexts that affect people's happiness. This includes social ties/support (Helliwell et al, 2021;Helliwell & Putnam, 2004;Lim & Putnam, 2010), freedom (Inglehart et al, 2008;Veenhoven, 2000), generosity and prosocial activities (Aknin et al, 2013), political and welfare system (Glass et al, 2016;Nikolova, 2016;Ono & Lee, 2013), skill development (Araki, 2022a(Araki, , 2023, cultural norms (Oishi et al, 2008;Uchida & Kitayama, 2009), and natural environments (Helliwell et al, 2020;Zheng et al, 2019). Incorporating these dimensions and considering their multicollinearity, recent research advocates six variables as the key country-level determinants of happiness: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy at birth, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption (Helliwell et al, 2021(Helliwell et al, , 2022(Helliwell et al, , 2023.…”