Are the Japanese Unique? An Analysis of Consumption and Saving Behavior in Japan

Horioka, Charles Yuji

doi:10.2139/ssrn.558003

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

Are the Japanese Unique? An Analysis of Consumption and Saving Behavior in Japan

36 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2004

See all articles by Charles Yuji Horioka

Charles Yuji Horioka

Kobe University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Asian Growth Research Institute; Osaka University

Date Written: June 2004

Abstract

In this paper, I conduct an analysis of consumption and saving behavior in Japan, looking both at trends over time and comparisons with the other industrialized countries. I find that some of the conventional wisdoms (that the Japanese are asset-rich and hold conservative portfolios) still hold but that others (that the Japanese are high savers and shun borrowing) no longer hold and that the Japanese are not unique, with the United States and the other Anglo-Saxon countries being the true exceptions in many respects.

Keywords: Japan, households, consumers, consumption, saving, wealth, borrowing, debt, portfolio

JEL Classification: D12, D14, D19, E21

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Horioka, Charles Yuji, Are the Japanese Unique? An Analysis of Consumption and Saving Behavior in Japan (June 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=558003 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.558003