Somtip Watanapongvanich

Bio: Somtip Watanapongvanich is an academic researcher from Hiroshima University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Financial literacy & Household income. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 13 publications receiving 66 citations. Previous affiliations of Somtip Watanapongvanich include Chulalongkorn University.

Willing or hesitant? A socioeconomic study on the potential acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine in Japan

Abstract: The worldwide COVID-19 vaccination program is already underway, raising hopes and aspirations to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic that halted economic and social activities. However, the issue of vaccine effectiveness and its side-effects is influencing the potential acceptance of vaccines. In this uncertain situation, we used data from a nationwide survey in Japan during February 2021, following the Japanese government's initial phase of COVID-19 vaccination. Our results show that 47% of the respondents are willing to take a vaccine once it is available, while 22% are not willing and another 31% remain indecisive. Our ordered probit regression results show that demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral variables such as gender, age, subjective health status, children, household income, household assets, financial literacy, future anxiety, and myopic view of the future are associated with willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Our findings suggest that Japan's government should not adopt a one-size-fits-all policy to promote the vaccination program, but rather target people with specific socioeconomic backgrounds who are less willing and more hesitant to take a vaccine.

Financial Literacy and Gambling Behavior: Evidence from Japan

Abstract: According to a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in 2017, 3.6% of Japanese adults—equivalent to about 3.2 million people—have suffered from problem gambling at some point in their lifetime. This study examines the relationship between financial literacy, financial education, and gambling behavior (measured as gambling frequency) among the Japanese population. We hypothesize that financially literate and financially educated people who use their knowledge to make sound financial decisions are less likely to gamble. The data used in this study are from a nationwide survey in Japan from the Preference Parameters Study of Osaka University in 2010 (n = 3687). To control for endogeneity bias between financial literacy and gambling behavior, we use the education of respondents’ fathers as an instrumental variable. The results from the probit-instrumental variable model show that financial literacy has a significantly negative relationship with gambling frequency, while financial education has no significant relationship with gambling frequency. Our findings suggest that problem gambling may be mitigated by promoting financial literacy, but no such conclusion can be drawn for financial education.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among the Younger Generation in Japan.

Abstract: Japan has vaccinated its older population; a mass vaccination program for younger citizens is underway. Accordingly, this study investigated vaccine hesitancy among younger Japanese citizens. We used online panel survey data from the Hiroshima Institute of Health Economics Research of Hiroshima University and applied probit regression models. Our study found that vaccine hesitancy among younger people was significantly higher than among older people. Moreover, vaccine hesitancy was significantly higher among younger women than younger men and inter-age-group differences in vaccine hesitancy were higher for younger men than for younger women. Regression demonstrated that subjective health status and anxiety about the future were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy among younger women and younger men of all ages, respectively. Furthermore, marital status, university degree, anxiety about the future, and myopic view of the future had specific associations with vaccine hesitancy among younger women of different ages, while subjective health status, university degree, having children, financial literacy, household income and assets, and myopic view about the future had specific associations with vaccine hesitancy among younger men of varying ages. Therefore, these results suggest that policymakers should consider the diversity among the younger generation while developing effective, tailored communication strategies to reduce their vaccine hesitancy.

Do Financial Literacy and Financial Education Influence Smoking Behavior in the United States

Abstract: Smoking is still a serious economic, health, and social problem despite various efforts to curb its prevalence. We examined the influence of financial literacy and financial education on the smoking behavior in the United States in terms of the use of rational decision-making abilities to reduce irrational behavior. We hypothesized that financial literacy and financial education, as proxies for rational decision making, would reduce the likelihood of smoking. We used data from the Preference Parameters Study (PPS) of Osaka University conducted in the United States in 2010 and applied probit regression models to test our hypothesis on a sample of 3831 individuals. We found that financially literate people are less likely to be smokers, though we found no clear role of financial education in reducing the likelihood of smoking. Further, respondents’ gender, age, unemployment status, and risky health behaviors such as drinking and gambling, have a significantly positive association with smoking, while marital status, university degree, family size, household income, household assets, physical exercise, and level of happiness have a significantly negative association. Our findings suggest that financial literacy, as an instrument encouraging rational decision making, could be a tool to help reduce smoking in the United States.

Emotional Status and Productivity: Evidence from the Special Economic Zone in Laos

Abstract: Employee productivity is a well-studied area, which has been explained in various dimensions. However, there is insufficient research on how workers’ on-job emotional status relates to productivity. This study examined the relationship between workers’ emotional states and productivity by assessing on-job emotionality recorded using a specially designed wearable biometric device. The experiment was conducted at KP Beau Lao Co. Ltd., a Japanese plastic toys and cosmetic products company in Savannakhet province in Southwestern Laos. Participants were 15 plastic toy painters. Mental status, daily output, and other issues were recorded for three consecutive working days. Using random effects panel regression models, we examined how productivity, operationalized as the log of daily output, was related to workers’ emotional states, including the amount of time workers reported being happy, angry, relaxed, and sad. We controlled for conversation time, heart rate, and other demographic features. The results revealed that happiness, and no other emotional state, was significantly and positively related to productivity. Such findings suggested that workers’ emotional states must be addressed as part of an organization’s operational strategy to ensure higher productivity.

The Development of Emotional Competence

Abstract: Carolyn Saarni’s book is one of a very practical series of titles by Guilford Press examining emotional and social development. The author stated a number of goals for the book including: writing about emotional development in mid-childhood and adolescence, examining emotion as a part of culture, and establishing a pattern of studying emotion within the lives of children. The book was organized into three parts: research and theories of emotional competence; skill levels of emotional competence and the clinical application of emotional competence. In the first part, Dr. Saarni defined emotional competence as the functional capacity wherein a human can reach their goals after an emotion-eliciting encounter. She defined emotion as a building block of self-efficacy. She described the use of emotions as a set of skills achieved which then lead to the development of emotional competence. Attainment of the skills of emotional competence is crucial to self-efficacy. Dr. Saarni outlined her theoretical position in relation to theories of emotion and social learning and cognitive development. Her approach to theory in each of these fields was integrative and focussed on self-development with a strong social-contructivist perspective. I enjoyed the culture and folk theories of emotional regulation in chapter three. Also, chapter three contained an interesting section on parent and peer influences on emotional regulation, very useful for child psychiatrists who work to discern abnormal emotional regulation and mood patterns in context. The bulk of the book was devoted to the eight emotional competence skills: Awareness of one’s own emotions, Ability to discern and understand other’s emotions, Ability to use the vocabulary of emotion and expression, Capacity for empathic involvement, Ability to differentiate subjective emotional experience from external emotion expression, Adaptive coping with aversive emotions and distressing circumstances, Awareness of emotional communication within relationships, and Capacity for emotional self-efficacy. Skills one through six are based on developmental research on emotions but the final two skills are based on her experience as a clinical developmental psychologist. Each chapter contained organizing subtitles and ended with culture, developmental stage and gender information. In keeping with her leanings to Lewis and Michaelson, her most basic skill, ‘awareness of one’s own emotions,’ is one that requires cognitive ability. She stipulated that, to accomplish the first skill, (Lewis’ argument) the child must know how the body feels to have an emotion. A child needs to be age four or five to demonstrate this skill reliably. Of all the skills, skill four, the capacity for empathic involvement appears to be an outlier. While the material she presented was interesting to read, the role of empathy as a skill of emotional competence wasn’t argued convincingly. On the other hand, skill 7 had a great deal of face validity. It suggested that there is a skill of emotional meta-communication. A strength of the book is its comprehensive examination of the skills she proposed. She covered many practical issues in emotional competence. The book conveyed a strong sense of children in their world and thus it was easy and enjoyable to read. A limitation of the book related to Dr. Saarni’s description of the differences between the theoretical models and how she applied them. There is a distinct difference between the social constructivists and functionalists. If child psychiatrists or residents are not familiar with the difference, this book will confuse their understanding. The former see emotions as arising from the development of cognition and the latter see emotion as not developmentally dependent upon cognition, rather, an organizing principle in development in its own right. Despite this, the effort and breadth of the treatment of emotional competence as illustrated in this book makes it well worth the read.

Alcohol and Self-Control: A Field Experiment in India.

Abstract: This paper studies alcohol consumption among low-income workers in India. In a 3-week field experiment, the majority of 229 cycle-rickshaw drivers were willing to forgo substantial monetary payments in order to set incentives for themselves to remain sober, thus exhibiting demand for commitment to sobriety. Randomly receiving sobriety incentives significantly reduced daytime drinking while leaving overall drinking unchanged. I find no evidence of higher daytime sobriety significantly changing labor supply, productivity, or earnings. In contrast, increasing sobriety raised savings by 50 percent, an effect that does not appear to be solely explained by changes in income net of alcohol expenditures.

A Global Map of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Rates per Country: An Updated Concise Narrative Review

Abstract: The delay or refusal of vaccination, which defines vaccine hesitancy, is a major challenge to successful control of COVID-19 epidemic. The huge number of publications addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy necessitates periodic review to provide a concise summary of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates worldwide. In the current narrative review, data on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates were retrieved from surveys in 114 countries/territories. In East and Southern Africa (n = 9), the highest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate was reported in Ethiopia (92%), while the lowest rate was reported in Zimbabwe (50%). In West/Central Africa (n = 13), the highest rate was reported in Niger (93%), while the lowest rate was reported in Cameroon (15%). In Asia and the Pacific (n = 16), the highest rates were reported in Nepal and Vietnam (97%), while the lowest rate was reported in Hong Kong (42%). In Eastern Europe/Central Asia (n = 7), the highest rates were reported in Montenegro (69%) and Kazakhstan (64%), while the lowest rate was reported in Russia (30%). In Latin America and the Caribbean (n = 20), the highest rate was reported in Mexico (88%), while the lowest rate was reported in Haiti (43%). In the Middle East/North Africa (MENA, n = 22), the highest rate was reported in Tunisia (92%), while the lowest rate was reported in Iraq (13%). In Western/Central Europe and North America (n = 27), the highest rates were reported in Canada (91%) and Norway (89%), while the lowest rates were reported in Cyprus and Portugal (35%). COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates ≥60% were seen in 72/114 countries/territories, compared to 42 countries/territories with rates between 13% and 59%. The phenomenon of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy appeared more pronounced in the MENA, Europe and Central Asia, and Western/Central Africa. More studies are recommended in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia to address intentions of the general public to get COVID-19 vaccination.

Association between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and generalized trust, depression, generalized anxiety, and fear of COVID-19

Abstract: Although numerous studies have been published on the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, some possible predictors remain underexplored. In this study, we explored the associations of unwillingness and indecisiveness regarding COVID-19 vaccination with generalized trust, mental health conditions such as depression and generalized anxiety, and fear of COVID-19.Data of wave 1 (from October 27 till November 6, 2020) and wave 3 (from April 23 till May 6, 2021) of a longitudinal online study conducted in Japan were used for the analyses. Unvaccinated participants were asked at wave 3 about their willingness to be vaccinated, with possible responses of willing, unwilling, or undecided. These three responses were used as the outcome variable, and multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted with willingness to be vaccinated as the reference group. Explanatory variables included generalized trust, depression, generalized anxiety, and fear of COVID-19 both at wave 1 and 3, and sociodemographic and health-related variables.Of the 11,846 valid respondents, 209 (1.8%) answered that they had already been vaccinated against COVID-19, 7089 (59.8%) responded that they were willing to be vaccinated, 3498 (29.5%) responded that they were undecided, and 1053 (8.9%) responded that they were unwilling to be vaccinated. After adjusting for covariates, we found that: (1) participants with lower levels of generalized trust at wave 1 and 3 were more likely to be undecided or unwilling at wave 3; (2) respondents with moderately severe or severe depression at wave 1 and 3 were more likely to be undecided at wave 3; (3) participants with moderate or severe levels of generalized anxiety at wave 3 but not at wave 1 were more likely to be unwilling at wave 3; and (4) respondents with high levels of fear of COVID-19 at wave 1 and 3 were less likely to be undecided and unwilling at wave 3.Generalized trust, mental health conditions such as depression and generalized anxiety, and low level of fear of COVID-19 are associated with unwillingness or indecision regarding being vaccinated against COVID-19.