Health and Home Ownership: Findings for the Case of Japan

In this talk we analyze the relationship between home ownership and health conditions and health behavior. This issue has not yet been examined quantitatively in the existing literature. Our estimation results show that homeowners consistently report better health and fewer physical and mental problems. The significance of home ownership remains even when controlling for housing conditions. Furthermore, our estimations indicate that homeowners invest more in their future health by undergoing voluntarily medical screenings more frequently. Finally, our estimations suggest that home ownership is positively correlated with health care expenditure even when controlling for income, debt, and other financial assets. Our empirical results thus provide evidence for the importance of home ownership for health.

Dr. Matthias Helble is a research fellow at ADBI and his research interests include international trade, health, environment, and urban economics. Before Matthias worked in the Development Research Group of the World Bank (Washington, DC), the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland), and for the World Trade Organization. His work has been published in flagship reports of international organizations as well as in numerous books and scientific journals. Matthias holds degrees in international economics from the University of Tuebingen (Germany), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA), as well as from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (PhD) in Geneva (Switzerland).

Toshiaki Aizawa is a research associate at ADBI and he has been engaged in research on health and housing policy for emerging Asian countries. His research interests lie in health inequity, urban health, social security, and redistribution policy. He was delegated as a representative of Japanese youth for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in 2015, and served as an educator of the Japanese Economy. He completed his MSc in Economics at the University of Edinburgh as part of the Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics in 2014.

The presentation will be given in English, questions will also be entertained in Japanese. Since the event is a brown bag seminar, feel free to bring your own lunch and drinks.