It is often said that the Japanese happiness is lower than that of Europeans. However, sufficient discussion has yet to take place with consideration of differences in social forms as a background factor. In this study, therefore, by leveraging comparative international surveys, we empirically study and compare the factors that affect happiness in Japan and in the Netherlands, a country which has a higher happiness level than other European countries, from both macro (country level) and micro (individual level) perspectives. This paper focuses on life evaluation as happiness. It was confirmed through the results of our macro analysis that social support (i.e., having relatives or friends you can count on to help you when you are in trouble) is the factor that significantly improves the level of life evaluation both in Japan and the Netherlands compared to other countries. In addition, change of the logarithmic value of GDP per capita in Japan is negative and statistically significant, which coincides with the Easterlin Paradox claim that more income does not bring greater happiness. On the other hand, we were unable to confirm the Easterlin Paradox in the Netherlands, in which change of the logarithmic value of GDP per capita is positive, though not statistically significant. Furthermore, our longitudinal data analysis in this paper also revealed that healthy life expectancy and generosity are insignificant, although their significance has been claimed in earlier studies (e.g. Helliwell et al, 2017). Although our macro analysis found social support is important both for Japanese and Dutch happiness on average, the results of our micro analysis have revealed different views and structure of society; the Netherlands is a welfare society in which the public sector and the citizens support each other, and Japan is a welfare society which is based on support provided by community including families and the local area. In other words, the Netherlands showed greater trust on others in general (general trust) than Japan, and Japan showed greater trust on families (family trust) than the Netherlands, a factor that had an influence on happiness levels of individuals in the respective countries. That is, while the Netherlands’ vision of a welfare society is based on “individuals and the public,” under which the independent citizens take the initiative in supporting each other, Japan’s vision of welfare society is based on “community,” under which families have a duty to support each other. In Japan, where freedom of choice is more limited than in the Netherlands, people who have more freedom of choice were found to be happier. In order to improve happiness in both countries, we need to strengthen social support based on their respectively unique visions of welfare society rather than resorting to income-boosting economic policies. In doing so, the key for Japan would be whether or not the system can be reformed in such a way as to allow freedom of choice to individuals.

中文翻译：

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日本和荷兰幸福的决定因素：宏观和微观分析与比较

人们常说日本人的幸福感低于欧洲人。但是，考虑到社会形式的差异作为背景因素，尚未进行充分的讨论。因此，在本研究中，我们利用比较的国际调查，从宏观（国家水平）和实证研究和比较影响日本和荷兰的幸福感的因素，而日本和荷兰是幸福感等级高于其他欧洲国家的国家。微观（个人）观点。本文将生活评估视为幸福。我们的宏观分析结果证实，社会支持（即 与其他国家相比，在日本和荷兰，拥有亲戚或朋友可以在遇到麻烦时可以帮助您）是显着提高日本和荷兰的生活评估水平的因素。此外，日本人均GDP的对数值的变化是负的，并且具有统计意义，这恰好与伊斯特林悖论（Easterlin Paradox）所宣称的那样，更多的收入不会带来更大的幸福。另一方面，我们无法确定荷兰的伊斯特林悖论，尽管人均GDP的对数值变化为正，但在统计上并不显着。此外，我们在本文中进行的纵向数据分析还揭示了健康的预期寿命和慷慨性并不重要，尽管在早期研究中已声称其重要性（例如Helliwell等人，2017）。尽管我们的宏观分析发现社会支持对日本人和荷兰人的幸福平均而言都很重要，但我们的微观分析结果却揭示了社会的不同观点和结构。荷兰是公共部门和市民相互支持的福利社会，日本是基于包括家庭和当地社区在内的社区提供的支持的福利社会。换句话说，荷兰对他人的总体信任（一般信任）比日本大，日本对家庭的信任（家庭信任）也比荷兰大，这是对各自国家个人幸福感产生影响的一个因素。也就是说，虽然荷兰对福利社会的看法是基于“个人和公众”，在独立公民主动相互支持的基础上，日本的福利社会构想基于“社区”，在这种社区下，家庭有义务相互支持。在选择自由比在荷兰更受限制的日本，人们发现选择自由更多的人更加快乐。为了提高两国的幸福感，我们需要根据各自对福利社会的独特看法来加强社会支持，而不是诉诸增加收入的经济政策。这样做的关键是，日本能否以允许个人选择自由的方式改革该制度。与荷兰相比，那里的选择自由受到更多的限制，人们发现拥有更多选择自由的人更加快乐。为了提高两国的幸福感，我们需要根据各自对福利社会的独特看法来加强社会支持，而不是诉诸增加收入的经济政策。在这种情况下，日本的关键是能否以允许个人自由选择的方式改革该制度。与荷兰相比，那里的选择自由受到更大的限制，人们发现选择自由度更高的人更加快乐。为了提高两国的幸福感，我们需要根据各自对福利社会的独特看法来加强社会支持，而不是诉诸增加收入的经济政策。这样做的关键是，日本能否以允许个人选择自由的方式改革该制度。