The Effect of Pension Reform on Pension-Benefit Expectations and Savings Decisions in Japan

32 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2012

See all articles by Emiko Usui

Emiko Usui

Hitotsubashi University - Institute of Economic Research; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Tsunao Okumura

Northwestern University - Department of Economics; Yokohama National University - International School of Social Sciences

Date Written: June 22, 2012

Abstract

Using the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), a new Japanese panel survey of people age 50 or older, we find that many Japanese in their early 50s - compared with those in their late 50s and early 60s - expect their level of public pension benefits to decline. We find that recent pension reform, which raised the pensionable age, affected people by increasing the age when they expect to claim their benefits by almost the exact same amount for all. The reform decreases their expectations for public pension benefits, although this effect is not necessarily significant. We also find evidence that individuals’ anxiety about the public pension program’s future induces an increase in their private savings.

Suggested Citation

Usui, Emiko and Okumura, Tsunao and Okumura, Tsunao, The Effect of Pension Reform on Pension-Benefit Expectations and Savings Decisions in Japan (June 22, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2089404 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2089404

Emiko Usui (Contact Author)

Hitotsubashi University - Institute of Economic Research ( email )

2-1 Naka Kunitachi-shi
Tokyo 186-8306
Japan

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Tsunao Okumura

Yokohama National University - International School of Social Sciences ( email )

79-4 Tokiwadai Hodogayaku
Yokohama, 2408501
Japan

Northwestern University - Department of Economics ( email )

2003 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

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