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Chronic Deflation in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Kenji Nishizaki
  • Toshitaka Sekine
  • Yoichi Ueno

Abstract

type="main"> Japan has suffered from a long-lasting but mild deflation since the latter half of the 1990s. Estimates of a standard Phillips curve indicate that a decline in inflation expectations, the negative output gap, and other factors such as a decline in import prices and a higher exchange rate all account for some of this development. These factors, in turn, reflect various underlying structural features of the Japanese economy. This paper examines a long list of these structural features that may explain Japan's chronic deflation, including the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate, public attitudes toward the price level, central bank communication, weaker growth expectations coupled with declining potential growth or the lower natural rate of interest, risk-averse banking behavior, deregulation, and the rise of emerging economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenji Nishizaki & Toshitaka Sekine & Yoichi Ueno, 2014. "Chronic Deflation in Japan," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 9(1), pages 20-39, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiapr:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:20-39
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/aepr.12041
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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