Does the Selfish Life-Cycle Model Apply in the Case of Japan?

Charles Horioka ()

No DP2020-14, Discussion Paper Series from Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University

Abstract: In this paper, we first provide a brief exposition of the simplest version of the selfish life cycle model or hypothesis, which is undoubtedly the most widely used theoretical model of household behavior in economics, and then survey the literature on household saving behavior in Japan (with emphasis on the author's own past research) to shed light on whether or not the selfish life-cycle model applies in the case of Japan. In particular, we survey the literature on the impact of the age structure of the population on the saving rate, the saving behavior of retired households, saving motives, the prevalence of bequests, bequest motives, tests of altruism, and the importance of borrowing (liquidity) constraints and show that almost all of the available evidence suggests that the selfish life-cycle model applies to a greater extent in Japan than it does in other countries. Finally, we discuss the policy implications of our findings.

Keywords: Age structure of the population; Aged; Altruism; Bequests; Bequest motives; Borrowing constraints; Consumption; Dissaving; Elderly; Estates; Household behavior; Household saving; Households; Inheritances; Intergenerational transfers; Japan; Lifecycle hypothesis; Life-cycle model; Life-cycle theory; Liquidity constraints; Old age; Retirees; Saving; Saving motives; Selfishness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D11 D12 D14 D15 D64 E21 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2020-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-dge and nep-mac
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https://www.rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp/academic/ra/dp/English/DP2020-14.pdf First version, 2020 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Does the Selfish Life-Cycle Model Apply in the Case of Japan? (2020)
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