| Over the last several decades, in Japan, the young population (YP; less than 14 years old) has decreased whereas the number of registered dogs (RDs) has increased as a result of various socioeconomic factors. The total sum of YP and RD has remained virtually constant since the early 1990s. In this paper, we employ veterinary economics analyses to empirically examine the following hypothesis: the decrease in the number of children being reared has been compensated for by the increase in the number of pets. We find a statistically significant relationship between RD and the total fertility rate, which confirms that our hypothesis is valid in the case of Japan. |
