Yamada Tomoaki    Department   Undergraduate School  , School of Commerce    Position   Professor
Language	English
Publication Date	2012/07
Type	Other
Title	Inequalities in Japanese Economy during the Lost Decades
Contribution Type	Co-authored (other than first author)
Journal	CIRJE Discussion Paper
Volume, Issue, Page	CIRJE-F-856,pp.1-51
Author and coauthor	Nao Sudo, Michio Suzuki
Details	This paper explores the development of inequalities in income, consumption, and wealth among Japanese households from the 1980s to the 2000s, a period that spans the bursting of Japan's bubble economy (1991Q1) and the banking crisis (1997Q4). We find that inequality of income and consumption widened during those three decades, and inequality of wealth increased, except for during the period after the bubble burst. Income inequality grew noticeably during the bubble era and periods after the banking crisis and the growth rate was particularly high during the former period. The two crises affected income inequality differently. The bubble burst led to a slow income growth for all households without greatly affecting the distribution of income, whereas the banking crisis dampened income growth exclusively among low-quantile households, exacerbating income inequality. Although the distributional effect of government policy was important, the general pattern of income inequality carried over into inequality in consumption. The dimensions of that carryover, however, diminished after the bubble burst, suggesting compositional changes in income shocks. The inequalities over life cycle are also discussed.