Effect of the Fukushima accident on saving electricity: The case of the Japanese Professional Baseball League

This paper investigates whether and the extent to which the Fukushima nuclear accident 2011 affected human behavior based on a natural experiment with the Japanese Professional Baseball League. Comparing the duration of games in the 2010 and 2011 seasons reveals the following. (1) The duration of a game in the 2011 season was shorter than that in 2010, especially during the summer when Japan was experiencing an electricity shortage. (2) The duration of a game played on a holiday is longer than that played on a workday in 2011, whereas there is no difference between a holiday and workday game in 2010. (3) The greater the distance between Fukushima and the location the game is played, the longer the duration of the game in 2011. This was not observed in 2010. These findings imply that a nuclear accident increased the incentive of baseball players to engage in successful collective action to save electricity by decreasing the duration of a game, especially when the probability of an electricity shortage was high.