[pp.165-170]

Regional Differences Among Citizens' Energy Saving Behaviors in Japan: Analysis Based on Social Capital

Akiteru MARUTA, Ryuji MATSUHASHI and Yoshikuni YOSHIDA （the University of Tokyo）

Abstract:
The study examines the hypothesis that citizens with higher social capital score may have better performance on CO2 reduction and energy saving. For that purpose, WEB-based survey is conducted and 1500 responses are obtained. To calculate social capital, the concept of Japan Cabinet Office’s SC index is also adopted. The correlation analysis indicates that citizens’ tendency on energy saving behaviors has weak, but certain correlations with citizens’ commitment to the local community. However, the energy saving behaviors has no correlation with SC Index and citizens’ trust toward general public. The results indicated that citizens’ awareness and voluntary belabors to reduce energy consumption is stimulated by citizen’s commitment to the local community. It is also suggested that Cabinet Office’s SC Index is not appropriate to capture and measure social capital in general. As the result, there is a possibility that the hypothesis can be proved by adopting new SC index, based on citizens' trust and commitment toward the local community.

Key Word:
energy saving, social capital, local community, correlation analysis

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