Japan's Saving Research Articles

Cost-effectiveness and health impact of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography for never smokers in Japan and the United States: a modelling study

BackgroundNever smokers in Asia have a higher incidence of lung cancer than in Europe and North America. We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for never smokers in Japan and the United States.MethodsWe developed a state-transition model for three strategies: LDCT, chest X-ray (CXR), and no screening, using a healthcare payer perspective over a lifetime horizon. Sensitivity analyses were also performed. Main outcomes were costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), life expectancy life-years (LYs), incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), and deaths from lung cancer. The willingness-to-pay level was US$100,000 per QALY gained.ResultsLDCT yielded the greatest benefits with the lowest cost in Japan, but the ICERs of LDCT compared with CXR were US$3,001,304 per QALY gained for American men and US$2,097,969 per QALY gained for American women. Cost-effectiveness was sensitive to the incidence of lung cancer. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses demonstrated that LDCT was cost-effective 99.3–99.7% for Japanese, no screening was cost-effective 77.7% for American men, and CXR was cost-effective 93.2% for American women. Compared with CXR, LDCT has the cumulative lifetime potential for 60-year-old Japanese to save US$117 billion, increase 2,339,349 QALYs and 3,020,102 LYs, and reduce 224,749 deaths, and the potential for 60-year-old Americans to cost US$120 billion, increase 48,651 QALYs and 67,988 LYs, and reduce 2,309 deaths.ConclusionsThis modelling study suggests that LDCT screening for never smokers has the greatest benefits and cost savings in Japan, but is not cost-effective in the United States. Assessing the risk of lung cancer in never smokers is important for introducing population-based LDCT screening.

Can Financial Literacy Explain Lack of Investment in Risky Assets in Japan?

Although household savings in Japan are among the highest in the world, investment in risky assets is still very low. This study examines whether financial literacy explains the lack of investment in risky assets in Japan. We use data from the Preference Parameter Study, a nationwide survey in Japan that has been conducted by Osaka University. We use investment in stocks, investment trusts, futures/options, Japanese government bonds, government bonds of foreign countries, and foreign currency deposits as a proxy for investment in risky assets. Our results show that investment in risky assets is higher among financially literate people. Moreover, financial literacy has a significantly positive association with investment in risky assets even after controlling the demographic, socio-economic, and psychological factors. We check the robustness of the association between financial literacy and investment in risky assets by segregating investment in risky assets into investment in equity securities and investment in bonds and foreign currencies. Financial literacy is found to be associated with both investment in equity securities and investment in bonds and foreign currencies. Our results are also robust in terms of the endogeneity issue. The results imply that investment in risky assets in financial markets could be increased by introducing financial literacy programs at a mass level.

Pak-Japan comparative study of consumption tax (value added tax) and its effects on economic growth rate and gross savings

Abstract. The purpose of this research attempt is to statistically observe the causal impact of consumption tax (value added tax) on GDP/economic growth and gross savings in Pakistan as well as in Japan and their comparative analysis for the period defined (1989 to 2015). Furthermore, to explore if the increase in value-added tax is either contributing to rising growth rate or increasing gross savings using time series secondary data. It is found through running regression that tax on goods and services (value added tax) maintains significant and healthy/positive association with gross domestic product growth rate and gross saving in Japan and Pakistan also. An increase in value-added tax contributes more to gross savings in Japan and Pakistan than the economic growth rate. The policymakers in Japan and Pakistan need to design policies to increase value-added tax rates to increase gross savings that could be utilized to increase physical and human capital investment to increase more production to achieve sustained economic growth. Also, this study guides Japan and Pakistan policymakers to restrict the export of the primary product to avoid value-added tax loss. Keywords. Consumption tax, VAT, Economic growth, GDP growth, Gross savings. JEL. H22, E21, O47.

SCIG generates cost savings in Japan

SCIG generates cost savings in Japan

"Smallness" in Postal Savings in Japan before World War II

"Smallness" in Postal Savings in Japan before World War II

A Treatise on Competitive Conditions between Public and Private Financial Institutions : Concerning Postal Savings in Japan from the MPT era to the Post-privatization era

A Treatise on Competitive Conditions between Public and Private Financial Institutions : Concerning Postal Savings in Japan from the MPT era to the Post-privatization era

Cost-Utility Analysis of Varenicline, an Oral Smoking-Cessation Drug, in Japan

To conduct a cost-utility analysis of two 12-week smoking-cessation interventions in Japan: smoking-cessation counselling by a physician compared with use of varenicline, an oral smoking-cessation drug, in addition to counselling. A Markov model was constructed to analyse lifetime medical costs and QALYs from the perspective of the healthcare payer. The cycle length was 5 years. Both costs and QALYs were discounted at 3% annually. The cohort of smokers was classified by sex and age, and we assumed that smokers started smoking at the age of 20 years and received smoking-cessation therapy at the ages of 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 years (five separate models were run). The healthcare costs and QALYs were calculated throughout the term until the age of 90 years. In the base-case analysis, success rates of varenicline plus counselling and counselling alone were assumed to be 37.9% and 25.5%, respectively, in male smokers, and 22.2% and 16.1%, respectively, in female smokers, based on a randomized controlled trial conducted in Japan. Both univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. Prescribed varenicline was shown to be more effective and less costly than smoking-cessation counselling alone. Varenicline would save direct medical costs of Japanese Yen (yen)43 846 ($US381; $US1 = yen115; Oct 2007) and generate an increase of 0.094 QALYs in male smokers. In females the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was yen346 143 per QALY gained. Varenicline is estimated to save yen23.7 billion ($US206 million) of the medical costs for tobacco-associated diseases for the whole population. Overall savings are yen9.5 billion. Sensitivity analyses suggested the robustness of the results. As with any data of this nature, there is some uncertainty in the results and further research is warranted. However, based on the results of this pharmacoeconomic evaluation, varenicline, the first non-nicotine, oral treatment developed for smoking cessation, appears to be cost effective and may contribute to future medical cost savings in Japan.

Approach to the Lighting Energy Savings in Japan for Global Climate Change Prevention

Approach to the Lighting Energy Savings in Japan for Global Climate Change Prevention

The terms of trade and private savings: empirical evidence with a structural approach

This paper proposes a structural approach to investigate the relationship between the terms of trade and private savings in Japan and the US. A small open economy model is developed in which an infinitely-living representative agent consumes both tradable and non-tradable goods and a stochastic Euler equation is derived. Then, the GMM estimation method developed by Hansen (1982) is applied to estimate structural parameters and test model specifications. The main result is that the estimate for the intertemporal marginal rate of substitution is more than one for both countries. It may therefore be concluded that an improvement in the future terms of trade can decrease the private savings in Japan and the US.

Household savings in Japan revisited

This paper investigates household saving behaviour by different cohorts with various household characteristics in Japan. Pooling the National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure in 1984, 1989 and 1994, the cohort analysis finds a substantial behavioural difference in the baby-boomer generation in Japan after 1989. As this generation is the largest demographic group, this finding provides valuable information to policy makers, especially in terms of intergenerational equity.

ARE AMERICANS MORE ALTRUISTIC THAN THE JAPANESE? A U.S.-JAPAN COMPARISON OF SAVING AND BEQUEST MOTIVES *

In this paper, we analyze a variety of data on saving motives, bequest motives, and bequest division from the Comparative Survey of Savings in Japan and the United States,' a binational survey conducted in 1996 by the Institute for Posts and Telecommunications Policy of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the Government of Japan, in order to shed light on which model of household behavior applies in the two countries. We find (1) that the selfish life cycle model is the dominant model of household behavior in both countries but that it is far more applicable in Japan than it is in the U.S., (2) that the altruism model is far more applicable in the U.S. than it is in Japan but that it is not the dominant model of household behavior in either country, and (3) that the dynasty model is more applicable in Japan than it is in the U.S. bu that it is of only limited applicability even in Japan.

A U.S.–Japan comparison of the importance and determinants of retirement saving

This paper reports a U.S.–Japan comparison of the importance of retirement saving and of the determinants thereof using micro data from the ‘Comparative Survey of Savings in Japan and the United States,’ a binational household survey conducted in 1996 by the Japanese government.

Explaining Japan's Saving Rate

This paper examines what I believe to be the significant developments in research over the past ten years on Japan's saving. It is a world that has been turned upside down during this period. I hope this paper helps clarify the extraordinary changes that have taken place. The paper is organized as follows. The next section motivates why Japan's saving is important. It is followed by a section which reviews the literature on the standardization of US-Japanese saving rates. Next comes my analysis of the Japan is special argument as applied to saving. After that I look at heterogeneity in saving, an idea which I suspect will dominate the research on Japan's saving for the next several years. Finally I end with a brief summary.

The effect of household characteristics on saving behaviour and the theory of savings in Japan

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the household saving functions based on cross-section data which contain fruitful informations of individual observations. The paper also attempts to test various theories of saving behaviours empirically such as life-cycle saving hypothesis, or permanent income hypothesis, or several other theories. Since the data contain several useful variables which have not been used previously, particular attention is paid to the influence of those household characteristics on saving behaviour.

Linking Welfare and the Developmental State: Postal Savings in Japan

Linking Welfare and the Developmental State: Postal Savings in Japan

Understanding Japan's Saving Rate: The Reconstruction Hypothesis

This paper evaluates Hayashi's conjecture that Japan's postwar saving experience can be accounted for by the neoclassical model of economic growth as that country's efforts to reconstruct its capital stock that was severely damaged in World War II. I call this the reconstruction hypothesis. I take a simplified version of a standard neoclassical growth model that is in widespread use in macroeconomics and simulate its response to capital destruction. The saving rate path implied by the model differs significantly from the path taken by actual Japanese postwar saving data. I discuss several model modifications which would reconcile the reconstruction hypothesis with Japan's postwar saving experience. For the reconstruction hypothesis to be credible requires independent evidence on the empirical plausibility of the model modifications. It is left to future research to determine whether that evidence exists.

Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?]: Comment

Previous articleNext article Free[Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?]: CommentPaul M. RomerPaul M. Romer Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by NBER Macroeconomics Annual Volume 11986 Sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/654023 Views: 74 Copyright 1986 The National Bureau of Economic Research and The Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?]: Comment

Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?]: Comment

Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?

This article begins with a look at time-series data on aggregate saving for the United States and Japan. After showing that a resolution of conceptual differences substantially narrows the gap in the saving rates between the two countries, the article examines various explanations for Japan's high saving rate by confronting them with a wealth of tabulations from household surveys in Japan. The life-cycle explanation is found to be inadequate. The prevalence of the extended family and bequests are singled out as probably the most important factor contributing to higher saving. An attempt is made to estimate the flow of intergenerational transfers. It is argued at the end that Japan's recent large trade surplus is due more to her slumping investment than any increase in saving.

Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?]: Discussion

Previous articleNext article Free[Why Is Japan's Saving Rate So Apparently High?]: DiscussionPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by NBER Macroeconomics Annual Volume 11986 Sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/654024 Views: 103Total views on this site Copyright 1986 The National Bureau of Economic Research and The Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.