The impact of retirement on household consumption in Japan

Melvin Stephens and Takashi Unayama

Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 2012, vol. 26, issue 1, 62-83

Abstract: Using monthly data from the Japanese Family Income and Expenditure Survey, we examine the impact of retirement on household consumption. We find little evidence of an immediate change in consumption at retirement, on average, in Japan. However, we find a decrease in consumption at retirement for low income households that is concentrated in food and work-related consumption. The availability of substantial retirement bonuses to a large share of Japanese retirees may help smooth consumption at retirement. We find that those households that are more likely to receive such bonuses experience a short-run consumption increase at retirement. However, among households that are less likely to receive a retirement bonus, we find that consumption decreases at retirement.

Keywords: Retirement; Household consumption; Life cycle/permanent income hypothesis; Retirement bonus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 E21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jjieco:v:26:y:2012:i:1:p:62-83

DOI: 10.1016/j.jjie.2011.08.001

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