Are Japanese Households Financially Healthy, If So, Why?

Abstract

In this article, I conduct an international comparison of the financial health of households using data on household wealth and indebtedness for the G-7 countries and show that, even though household borrowings in Japan were the highest among the G-7 countries, at least until 2000, household assets were also high in Japan, as a result of which household net worth and financial health in Japan were among the highest in the G-7 countries. Turning to long-term trends in Japan over time, I find that Japan has shown a sharp increase over time in household borrowings, at least until 2000, and a sharp increase over time in both household assets and household net worth, at least until 1990. It is not clear whether the greater financial health of Japanese households is due more to culture or to government policies, institutions, and other noncultural factors, but it appears that long-term trends over time in household assets, liabilities, and net worth in Japan can be explained much better by noncultural factors than by culture.