IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/esj/esridp/346.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Dissaving by the elderly in Japan: Empirical evidence from survey data

Author

Listed:
  • Keiko MURATA

Abstract

Using two micro datasets of household surveys, this study empirically examines the (dis)saving behavior of the elderly in Japan. Using the long-run dataset covering 20 years, the findings indicate that, on average, the elderly in Japan dissave, but the pace of dissaving of retired elderly appears to be excessively slow in light of the standard life cycle-permanent income hypothesis. The analysis suggests that one likely factor is the desire to leave a bequest. Both the saving rate and the pace of wealth decumulation show that retired households dissave more slowly if the head plans to leave a bequest. Retired elderly who intend to have savings for precautionary purposes are not found to dissave more slowly except for those who do not plan to leave a bequest to their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Keiko MURATA, "undated". "Dissaving by the elderly in Japan: Empirical evidence from survey data," ESRI Discussion paper series 346, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:esj:esridp:346
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.esri.go.jp/jp/archive/e_dis/e_dis346/e_dis346.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Junya HAMAAKI & Masahiro HORI & Koichiro IWAMOTO & Keiko MURATA & Takeshi NIIZEKI & Fumihiko SUGA, 2016. "Estimation of Annual Consumption Expenditures by Japanese Households Based on the Microdata from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey:Estimation Methods and Illustrative Tables and Figures (in Jap," Economic Analysis, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 190, pages 95-129, January.
    2. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John B. Jones, 2010. "Why Do the Elderly Save? The Role of Medical Expenses," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(1), pages 39-75, February.
    3. Karen E. Dynan & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, 2002. "The Importance of Bequests and Life-Cycle Saving in Capital Accumulation: A New Answer," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 274-278, May.
    4. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2016. "Savings After Retirement: A Survey," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 177-204, October.
    5. Junya HAMAAKI & Masahiro HORI & Koichiro IWAMOTO & Saeko MAEDA & Keiko MURATA & Takeshi NIIZEKI, 2015. "Estimation of Real Assets Holdings by Japanese Households Based on the Microdata from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey:Estimation Methods and Illustrative Tables and Figures(in Japanese)," Economic Analysis, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 189, pages 65-96, February.
    6. Abe, Naohito & Yamada, Tomoaki, 2005. "Structural Estimation of Consumption Function―An Empirical Analysis on Precautionary Saving in a Buffer Stock Saving Model―," Economic Review, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 56(3), pages 248-265, July.
    7. John Ameriks & Joseph Briggs & Andrew Caplin & Matthew D. Shapiro & Christopher Tonetti, 2020. "Long-Term-Care Utility and Late-in-Life Saving," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2375-2451.
    8. Dekle, Robert, 1990. "Do the Japanese elderly reduce their total wealth? A new look with different data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 309-317, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Niimi, Yoko & Horioka, Charles Yuji, 2019. "The wealth decumulation behavior of the retired elderly in Japan: The relative importance of precautionary saving and bequest motives," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 52-63.
    2. Charles Yuji Horioka & Yoko Niimi, 2019. "Household Debt and Aging in Japan," ISER Discussion Paper 1068, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    3. Luigi Ventura & Charles Yuji Horioka, 2020. "The wealth decumulation behavior of the retired elderly in Italy: the importance of bequest motives and precautionary saving," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 575-597, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones & Rory McGee, 2021. "Why Do Couples and Singles Save During Retirement?," Richmond Fed Economic Brief, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 21(09), pages 1-65, May.
    2. Luigi Ventura & Charles Yuji Horioka, 2020. "The wealth decumulation behavior of the retired elderly in Italy: the importance of bequest motives and precautionary saving," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 575-597, September.
    3. Giulio Fella & Martin B. Holm & Thomas Michael Pugh, 2024. "Saving after Retirement and Preferences for Residual Wealth," Staff Working Papers 24-21, Bank of Canada.
    4. Niimi, Yoko & Horioka, Charles Yuji, 2019. "The wealth decumulation behavior of the retired elderly in Japan: The relative importance of precautionary saving and bequest motives," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 52-63.
    5. Eric French & John Bailey Jones & Elaine Kelly & Jeremy McCauley, 2018. "End-of-Life Medical Expenses," Working Paper 18-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    6. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones & Rory McGee, 2021. "Why Do Couples and Singles Save during Retirement? Household Heterogeneity and its Aggregate Implications," NBER Working Papers 28828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2016. "Savings After Retirement: A Survey," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 177-204, October.
    8. Charles Yuji Horioka & Luigi Ventura, 2024. "Do the Retired Elderly in Europe Decumulate Their Wealth? The Importance of Bequest Motives, Precautionary Saving, Public Pensions, and Homeownership," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 70(1), pages 187-212, March.
    9. Thomas F. Crossley & Cormac O'Dea & Richard Blundell & Rowena Crawford & Eric French & Gemma Tetlow, 2016. "Comparing Retirement Wealth Trajectories on Both Sides of the Pond," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 37, pages 105-130, March.
    10. Amitabh Chandra & Courtney Coile & Corina Mommaerts, 2023. "What Can Economics Say about Alzheimer's Disease?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 428-470, June.
    11. Siha Lee & Kegon Teng Kok Tan, 2023. "Bequest Motives and the Social Security Notch," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 888-914, December.
    12. Been, Jim & van Ewijk, Casper & Knoef, Marike & Mehlkopf, Roel & Muns, Sander, 2024. "Households’ heterogeneous welfare effects of using home equity for life cycle consumption," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    13. Edouard Augustin Ribes, 2021. "How does education influence individuals' use of bequests as a long-term care insurance?," Working Papers hal-03498481, HAL.
    14. John Laitner & Dan Silverman & Dmitriy Stolyarov, 2018. "The Role of Annuitized Wealth in Post-retirement Behavior," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 71-117, July.
    15. John Ameriks & Andrew Caplin & Minjoon Lee & Matthew D. Shapiro & Christopher Tonetti, 2023. "Cognitive Decline, Limited Awareness, Imperfect Agency, and Financial Well-Being," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 125-140, March.
    16. Pashchenko, Svetlana & Porapakkarm, Ponpoje, 2020. "Saving Motives over the Life-Cycle," MPRA Paper 100208, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Kraft, Holger & Munk, Claus & Weiss, Farina, 2022. "Bequest motives in consumption-portfolio decisions with recursive utility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    18. Svetlana Pashchenko & Ponpoje (Poe) Porapakkarm & Mariacristina De Nardi, 2017. "The Lifetime Costs of Bad Health," 2017 Meeting Papers 533, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2016. "Medicaid Insurance in Old Age," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3480-3520, November.
    20. Huang, H. & Milevsky, M.A. & Salisbury, T.S., 2017. "Retirement spending and biological age," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 58-76.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:esj:esridp:346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: HORI nobuko (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/esrgvjp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.