Yasuhiro Nakamoto

Consumption externalities and equilibrium dynamics with heterogeneous agents

This paper explores the effect of consumption externalities on equilibrium dynamics of a standard neoclassical growth model in which there are two types of agents. To emphasize the presence of heterogeneous agents, we distinguish intergroup consumption externalities from intragroup consumption externalities. We show that if there are intragroup consumption externalities alone, then the steady state equilibrium satisfies saddle-point stability and the equilibrium path of the economy is uniquely determined. In contrast, even if the intragroup consumption externalities do not exist, the intergroup external effects of consumption may yield either instability or local indeterminacy of the steady-state equilibrium. In addition to analytical considerations, we show the relationship between the stability and the consumption externalities in numerical examples.

Gender Differences, Social Loss Aversion and Sports Performance in Japanese Schoolchildren

In this paper, we investigated the relationship between social loss aversion and the competitive sports performance. We found that social loss aversion significantly affected the competitive sports performance in a homogeneous group of male students, but not female students, and that these effects were consistent across various sports drills. In particular, the gender of a reference person was pivotal to determining the effects of social loss aversion. We also showed that social risk aversion did not significantly affect performance in competitive sports drills.

Measurement of Social Preference from Utility-Based Choice Experiments

Ever since the classical works of Smith and Veblen, economists have recognized that individuals care about their relative positions and status in addition to their own consumption. This paper addresses a new framework of choice experiments in order to specify the shape of utility function with preference externalities. Theoretical studies on social preference, which are conducted without estimating or calibrating important parameters of social preference and put forward various propositions in accordance with the parameters assumed, can refer to the parameters estimated in this paper. Our findings complement those of happiness studies which support the view of social preference. We show that preference externality is, on average, characterized by jealousy among Japanese respondents, and also that heterogeneity in social preference parameters is driven by differences in income levels, age, and gender.