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Did Japan's shopping coupon program increase spending?

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  • Hsieh, Chang-Tai
  • Shimizutani, Satoshi
  • Hori, Masahiro

Abstract

In March 1999, 31Â million "shopping coupons" worth 20,000Â yen each were distributed to Japanese families with children and to the elderly. The coupons expired after six months and could only be used within the recipient's local community. We use variation in the number of children across families and in the number of recipients across prefectures to measure the effect of the coupons on spending. We find that coupons had a positive effect on spending on semi-durables, but no effect on spending on nondurables or services. The marginal propensity to consume on semi-durables was 0.1-0.2 when the coupons were distributed in March. The results using regional variation provide stronger evidence that spending did not fall after the coupons had been redeemed.

Suggested Citation

  • Hsieh, Chang-Tai & Shimizutani, Satoshi & Hori, Masahiro, 2010. "Did Japan's shopping coupon program increase spending?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(7-8), pages 523-529, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:94:y:2010:i:7-8:p:523-529
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    3. Feng-Li Lin & Wen-Yi Chen, 2020. "Did the Consumption Voucher Scheme Stimulate the Economy? Evidence from Smooth Time-Varying Cointegration Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Yoshihiko Kadoya & Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan & Tomomi Yamane, 2020. "Government’s Stimulus Program to Boost Consumer Spending: A Case of Discount Shopping Coupon Scheme in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-12, May.
    5. David Andolfatto, 2020. "Hot Money for a Cold Economy," Working Papers 2020-019, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    6. Jianwei Xing & Eric Yongchen Zou & Zhentoa Yin & Yong Wang & Zhenhua Li, 2023. ""Quick Response" Economic Stimulus: The Effect of Small-Value Digital Coupons on Spending," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 249-304, October.
    7. Satoshi Shimizutani, 2017. "College tuition payment and household consumption in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 265-285, March.
    8. Myoung-jae Lee & Yasuyuki Sawada, 2020. "Review on Difference in Differences," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 36, pages 135-173.
    9. Qiao Liu & Qiaowei Shen & Zhenghua Li & Shu Chen, 2021. "Stimulating Consumption at Low Budget: Evidence from a Large-Scale Policy Experiment Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(12), pages 7291-7307, December.
    10. Luc Christiaensen & Lei Pan, 2010. "Transfers and Development: Easy Come, Easy Go?," WIDER Working Paper Series 125, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Kamhon Kan & Shin-Kun Peng & Ping Wang, 2017. "Understanding Consumption Behavior: Evidence from Consumers' Reaction to Shopping Vouchers," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 137-153, February.
    12. Michiru Kaneda & So Kubota & Satoshi Tanaka, 2021. "Who spent their COVID-19 stimulus payment? Evidence from personal finance software in Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 409-437, July.
    13. Hoon Choi, 2022. "Effect of COVID‐19 stimulus payments on sales of local small businesses: Quasi‐experimental evidence from Korea," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 340-360, October.
    14. Cameron LAPOINT & UNAYAMA Takashi, 2020. "Winners, Losers, and Near-Rationality: Heterogeneity in the MPC out of a Large Stimulus Tax Rebate," Discussion papers 20067, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Christiaensen , Luc & Pan, Lei, 2012. "On the fungibility of spending and earnings -- evidence from rural China and Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6298, The World Bank.
    16. Masahiro Hori & Nahoko Mitsuyama & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2016. "New Evidence on Intra-Household Allocation of Resources in Japanese Households," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 67(1), pages 77-95, March.
    17. Woo, Seokjin & Aum, Sangmin & Kim, Dohyung & Moon, Heyjin & Lee, Soohyung, 2021. "Consumption Response to Seoul's COVID-19 Shopping Coupons: Evidence from Consumer Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14662, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Hori Masahiro & Shimizutani Satoshi, 2009. "The Response of Household Expenditure to Anticipated Income Changes: Bonus Payments and the Seasonality of Consumption in Japan," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, August.
    19. HATTORI Takahiro & KOMURA Norihiro & UNAYAMA Takashi, 2021. "Impact of Cash Transfers on Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Japanese Special Cash Payments," Discussion papers 21043, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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