Comparative Analysis of Consumption Behavior in East Asia : Qualitative Study with Household Micro Data

莫夫舒克研究了消费行为的生命周期假说，特别是年龄如何影响家庭储蓄。他提出了一种新的非参数方法来确定年龄对储蓄的影响，并将该方法应用于日本、美国、英国、意大利、台湾和泰国的微观数据。与传统的识别年龄效应的方法相比，新方法得到的估计更符合生命周期理论。细冈利用日本的微观数据对消费和储蓄行为进行了研究，得到了三个主要结果。首先，老年和退休人员的储蓄行为表现为负储蓄。其次，日本的储蓄率不再像过去那样高；此外，家庭债务增长迅速。第三，在20世纪90年代长期的经济衰退期间，停滞不前的私人消费极大地恶化了日本的商业状况，使经济政策的实施复杂化。泽田利用韩国家庭的面板数据，研究了货币危机对家庭消费的影响。研究发现，家庭通过减少私人转账和奢侈品消费来应对风险增加。泽田还分析了上世纪90年代菲律宾贫困率下降的原因，发现这不能用土地资产的差异来解释，而可以用人力资本和非农收入的差异来解释。野村使用日本的微观数据验证了流动性约束，发现家庭贷款受到各种生活事件(如婚姻、生育、子女教育)的影响，因此将这些事件纳入标准的生命周期理论非常重要。山下的研究重点是亚洲金融危机后东亚经济体的收入差距和贫困，以及社会保障政策的影响，以减少金融危机的负面影响。

Movshuk studied the life-cycle hypothesis of consumption behavior, particularly how age affects household savings. He suggested a new non-parametric approach to identify the age effect on savings, and applied the approach to micro data in Japan, the United States, England, Italy and Taiwan, and Thailand. Compared with results from traditional approaches to identify the age effect, the new approach produced estimates that were in more agreement with the life-cycle theory.Horioka researched consumption and saving behavior by using the micro data for Japan, and obtained three major results. First, the saving behavior showed negative savings for individuals who were in the old age and retired. Second, the Japanese saving rate is no longer as high as it was in the past ; besides, the household debt is growing rapidly. Third, during the prolonged recession in the 1990s, the stagnant private consumption greatly worsened the business conditions, and complicated the implementation of economic policies in Japan.Sawada used panel data for Korean households, and studied how monetary crises affected household consumption. The study found that households coped with increased risk by reducing private transfers and the consumption of luxury goods. Sawada also analyzed why poverty declined in the Philippines during the 1990s, and found that this can be explained not by differences in land assets, but by the variation in the human capital and in non-agricultural income.Nomura verified the liquidity constraint by using Japanese micro data, and found that household loans are affected by various life events (such as marriage, childbirth, children's education), making it important to include such events in the standard life-cycle theory.Yamashita's research focused on income disparities and poverty in East Asian economies after the Asian financial crises, and on effects from social security policies to reduce the negative consequences of the financial crisis.