"Are the Japanese Selfish, Altruistic, or Dynastic?" (in Japanese)

Charles Horioka ()

No CIRJE-J-70, CIRJE J-Series from CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo

Abstract: In this paper, I analyze a variety of data for Japan and, where available, for the United States on bequest practices, on the importance and nature of bequest motives, on bequest division, and on the willingness of individuals to help others and survey a variety of econometric analyses in order to determine which theoretical model of household behavior applies in the two countries. My results suggest that all three models (the life cycle, altruism, and dynasty models) coexist in both countries, that the selfish life cycle model is the most applicable model in both countries but that it is far more applicable in Japan than it is in the U.S., that the dynasty model is also more applicable in Japan than it is in the U.S. but that it is not of dominant importance even in Japan, and conversely, that the altruism model is far more applicable in the U.S. than it is in Japan. In the concluding section of the paper, I consider the policy implications of my findings.

Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2002-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mic and nep-sea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (52)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tky:jseres:2002cj70

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