Was the Expansion of Housing Credit in Japan Good or Bad?

Abstract

This paper shows, using data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, that housing credit has become increasingly available over time in Japan, especially since 2000, and that this has made it easier for Japanese households to purchase housing and enabled them to do so at an earlier age. However, it also shows that the greater availability of housing credit has increased households' housing loan repayment burden, which has resulted in their cutting back on their other consumption expenditures and created the potential for retirement insecurity. Another concern is that the increasing availability of housing credit has been accompanied by a pronounced shift from fixed-rate to variablerate housing loans. This is cause for concern given the low level of financial literacy that prevails among the Japanese population and the likelihood that interest rates on variablerate housing loans will be raised sooner or later as monetary policy is tightened.

Is the selfish life-cycle model more applicable in Japan and, if so, why? A literature survey

“…Similarly, Kohara and Horioka (2006) find that 8 to 15% of young Japanese couples are borrowing (liquidity) constrained. Moreover, Horioka (2012aHorioka ( , 2012b and Horioka and Niimi (2020) find that the ratio of household liabilities to household disposable income in Japan was the highest among the Group of Seven (G7) countries until at least 2005.…”

Is the Selfish Life-Cycle Model More Applicable in Japan and, If so, Why? A Literature Survey

“…Similarly, Kohara and Horioka (2006) find that 8 to 15% of young Japanese couples are borrowing (liquidity) constrained. Moreover, Horioka (2012aHorioka ( , 2012b and Horioka and Niimi (2020) find that the ratio of household liabilities to household disposable income in Japan was the highest among the Group of Seven (G7) countries until at least 2005.…”

Is the Selfish Life-Cycle Model More Applicable in Japan and, If So, Why? A Literature Survey

“…Similarly, Kohara and Horioka (2006) find that 8 to 15% of young Japanese couples are borrowing (liquidity) constrained. Moreover, Horioka (2012a, b) and Horioka and Niimi (2020) find that the ratio of household liabilities to household disposable income in Japan was the highest among the Group of Seven (G7) countries until at least 2005.…”