Is population ageing the main factor in the decrease of household saving rate? Analysis with micro data for Japanese households

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In recent years, the saving rate of Japanese households has been decreasing, and the decrease is often considered a consequence of the rapid aging of Japanese population. The view is mainly supported by studies with aggregate macro data, with few studies that examined the problem with Japanese household data. In contrast, several studies with household data were reported for other developed economies, with a common finding that the effect of population ageing was surprisingly small. In this study, I used Japanese micro data to estimate the age effect on the savings by Japanese households. Using the estimated results for the age effect, I calculated the aggregate effect of population ageing on the past and future household saving rate in Japan.