- Pre-book only
The 170th meeting jointly organized with International Public Policy Seminar
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Date | 2025.7.18 Fri 13:30 - 15:00 |
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How to apply | Please contact Ms. Kitabayashi to the email address below |
Contact | Ms.Kitabayashi at the Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo |
The Osaka Workshop on Economics of Institutions and Organizations, OEIO, meets every month to exchange research ideas on institutional and organizational economics. Participants include both people specialized in theoretical research and those in empirical research. Topics of meetings might be about microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, or economic history..., whatever on institutional and organizational economics.
Presenter：Ryuichi Tanaka (Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo)
Title："Less Pressure, Happier Minds: The Mental Health Impact of Relaxation-Oriented Education " (Yu Bai, Yanjun Li, Xinyan Liu, and Ryuichi Tanaka)
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of a relaxation-oriented educational policy on the mental health of children and young adults. Exploiting Japan’s 2002 curriculum reform as an exogenous policy shock, we apply a difference-in-differences estimation strategy to examine how reduced instruction time affects student well-being. Our findings indicate that individuals exposed to more years of relaxed education experienced improved overall mental health outcomes. Mechanism analysis suggests that the mental health benefits stem from reductions in study hours and increased time for leisure and restorative activities. However, these effects are short-lived and tend to diminish as students progress into more competitive educational and labor market stages. The results highlight a potential health-wealth tradeoff, underscoring the need for carefully calibrated education reforms that balance short-term psychological relief with long-term academic and economic outcomes.