Osaka Workshop on Economics of Institutions and Organization (#170)

Date: Friday, July 18, 2025 13:30 to 15:00
Place: Conference Room, 6th floor, OSIPP Building, Toyonaka Campus, The University of Osaka　　　　
Registration: E-mail to Ms. Kitabayashi 【yuri-kitabayashi(a)iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp 】
　　　　　　 (The reply may be sent on the day of the event.)

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)

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.

Abstract: Ryuichi Tanaka