Identity, nostalgia and happiness among migrants: The case of the Kōshien High School Baseball Tournament in Japan

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Eiji Yamamura
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0106.12226

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT

Identity, nostalgia and happiness among migrants:

The case of the Kōshien High School Baseball

Tournament in Japan

Eiji Yamamura

Department of Economics, Seiann Gakuin

University, Fukuoka, Japan

Correspondence

Eiji Yamamura, Department of Economics,

Seinan Gakuin University, 6‐2‐92 Nishijin,

Sawara‐ku, Fukuoka 814‐8511, Japan.

Email: yamaei@seinan‐gu.ac.jp

Funding information

Grant‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research C,

Grant/Award Number: 25380347

Abstract

Public broadcasting of all games of high school baseball

tournaments attests to their popularity in Japan. The pres-

ent study uses individual‐level data to test the hypothesis

that nostalgia influences the level of happiness of Japanese

people. Its key findings were: (i) the number of wins by a

prefecture team increased the happiness level of its resi-

dents; (ii) this effect applied only to residents of large cit-

ies; and (iii) for urban migrants, originally from rural

areas, the effect of their home team wins exceeded that of

the wins of their host area team. This effect was significant

in cases where the host area cultural climate differed from

that of the migrant home area. These findings suggest that

a scarcity of ‘identity’goods related to the residential com-

munity increases high school baseball influence on happi-

ness. Furthermore, the influence of nostalgia for home on

migrants’happiness is greater than their attachment to their

current residential community.

1|INTRODUCTION

It is widely acknowledged that people experiences of past events such as marriage, divorce, and unem-

ployment influence their level of happiness (Clark, Diener, Georgellis, & Lucas, 2008; Clark &

Georgellis, 2013). Whether these influences persist over a long period, however, depends on the type

of experience.

1

Experiences during childhood seem to form individuals’characteristics and so affect

1

For instance, an increase in happiness that is caused by a marriage declines as the marriage progresses (Lucas, Clark,

Georgellis, & Diener, 2003; Stutzer & Frey,2006). However, unemployment decreases happiness and its negativeeffect on hap-

piness persists (see e.g. Clark, Georgellis, & Peter, 2001; Clark & Oswald, 1994; Clark et al., 2008; Clark & Georgellis, 2013).

Received: 2 November 2016 Revised: 28 December 2016 Accepted: 27 March 2017

DOI: 10.1111/1468-0106.12226

792 792–813.

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/paer Pacific Economic Review. 2017;22:

Pac Econ Rev.

bs_bs_banner

their behaviour and subjective perceptions even after they became adults (e.g. Heckman, Moon, Pinto,

Savelyev, & Yavitz, 2010a, 2010b; Heckman, Pinto, & Savelyev, 2013). In this paper, an individual

identity is defined as related to the individual experiences during childhood. Under this assumption,

several questions arise: How does an individual identity influence their happiness level? How does

the effect of identity vary according to the situation? These questions have not been sufficiently exam-

ined, although identity has been paid considerable attention by social science researchers (e.g. Akerlof

& Kranton, 2000; Gorinas, 2014; Manuela & Sibley, 2013). Furthermore, identity is thought to have a

larger effect on the level of happiness if the current circumstance is more detached from one identity.

This is because goods related to ‘identity’(‘identity goods’) are scarce. The scarcity of ‘identity goods’

generates ‘nostalgia’, which, in turn, increases the effect of identity on the level of happiness. There-

fore, migrants’‘nostalgia’is greater than that of established residents because ‘identity goods’are

scarcer for migrants than for others. Hence, the effects of ‘identity’and ‘nostalgia’can be considered

by comparing the effect of ‘identity goods’between migrants and non‐migrants.

Various experiences seem to be connected with a place and an era regardless of the type of experi-

ence. For instance, re‐reading an old textbook from their school days often leads people to think of var-

ious experiences during their school lives, such as words of praise from a teacher, friendship with

classmates, and lost love. Migrants who move from rural towns to urban cities are likely to continue

to eat the food of their home region, not only because they prefer its taste, but also because they are

attached to their hometown. Similarly, even if the contents of a contemporary textbook are similar to

those of the particular book that was used during a person own school days, the current textbook is

unlikely to evoke recollections of that person school days. Foods of a particular locality are less likely

to be eaten by strangers than by migrants from that locality even if both have similar food preferences.

Current life events involving, for example, happiness and preferences, have different impacts on

individuals’perceptions according to whether these events are connected with the epoch or the place

in which they have grown up (Bryant, 2005). That is, it is possible that an identity formed through

childhood experiences changes the effects of current events on subjective happiness. Nostalgia, rooted

in an individual identity, can affect consumers’perceptions and behaviour (Nawas& Platt, 1965). This

is considered an important issue from the perspective of population mobility, because the cultures of

the migrants’home countries influence their behaviour and perceptions.

2

According to Haidt (2012),

sports events such as college football in the United States share a similarity with religious events in

that the events play a critical role in forming a community in which its members are unified.

Abramitzky, Einav, and Rigbi (2010) hypothesize that religious holidays lead cultural minorities not

only to celebrate, worship and enjoy festivities, but they also provide a counterbalance against the cul-

tural majority. Therefore, it is possible that the community is strengthened when some of its residents

are living far from their hometowns. This issue has not been sufficiently explored in existing studies

that have focused more, for example, on the influence of ethnic identity on employment outcomes

(Gorinas, 2014), and the relationship between identity and happiness (Manuela & Sibley, 2013).

3

2

Absenteeism and misconduct are more prevalent in southern Italy (Putnam, 1993). Ichino and Maggi(2000) provide evidence

that workers who movefrom the southern region to the norther n region continueto exhibit this anomalous behaviour. The norms

of the region in which individuals were raised, therefore, persist even after they have moved to other regions with different

norms. Moreover, these cultural values may be further transmitted to a second generation of immigrants (Algan & Cahuc,

2010; Fernández & Fogli, 2006; Fernández & Fogli, 2009).

3

Some researchers have examined the effect of the current place of residence on happiness (see e.g. Luttmer 2005; Clark,

Kristensen, & Westergård‐Nielsen, 2009; Shields, Wheatley, & Wooden, 2009). A number of studies also suggest that there

is a positive correlation between happiness (or life satisfaction) and social capital, such as trust and community participation

(Bjørnskov, 2003; Grillo, Teixeira, & Wilson, 2010; Helliwell, 2006; Portela, Neira, & Salinas‐Jimenez, 2013; Sarracino,

2010, 2012).

2YAMAMURA

bs_bs_banner

793

YAMAMURA

bs_bs_banner

bs_bs_banner