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Household Wealth Accumulation and Portfolio Choices in Korea

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Author Info
Sang-Wook Stanley Cho () (School of Economics, The University of New South Wales)

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Abstract

This paper constructs a quantitative lifecycle model with uninsurable labor income and aggregate housing return risk to assess how Korean households make saving and portfolio allocation decisions. The model incorporates the special roles housing plays in the portfolio of households: collateral, a source of service flows, as well as a source of potential capital gains or losses. In the model, a household first makes the decision whether to rent or to buy a house and then chooses the housing value. The model adds to existing models of wealth accumulation some unique institutional features present in Korea, namely the rental system (`chonsae') and the lack of a mortgage system. When the model is calibrated to match the Korean economy, several key features of the data are better able to be reproduced. The paper also analyzes the role of institutional features by comparing several alternative housing market arrangements and the introduction of a pay-as-you-go social security system to assess their impact on wealth accumulation, portfolio choices, and the pattern of homeownership. I find that expanding the mortgage system significantly increases the homeownership ratio, while alternative rental arrangements have mixed effects on the homeownership ratio. All of the alternative market arrangements raise the fraction of household wealth invested into housing assets. I also find that the introduction of social security system will lower the overall savings in Korea by approximately 10% and lower the homeownership ratio by 6 percentage points.

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Paper provided by School of Economics, The University of New South Wales in its series Discussion Papers with number 2007-26.

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Length: 45 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2007
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Handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2007-26

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Related research
Keywords: Lifecycle model; Consumption; Wealth; Housing; Korea;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
R21 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Dongchul Cho, 2005. "Interest Rate, Inflation, and Housing Price: With an Emphasis on Chonsei Price in Korea," NBER Working Papers 11054, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. John Y. Campbell & Joao F. Cocco, 2003. "Household Risk Management and Optimal Mortgage Choice," NBER Working Papers 9759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. William N. Goetzmann & Matthew I. Spiegel, 2000. "The Policy Implications of Portfolio Choice in Underserved Mortgage Markets," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm161, Yale School of Management. [Downloadable!]
  4. Wenli Li & Rui Yao, 2005. "The life-cycle effects of house price changes," Working Papers 05-7, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
  5. Sven Rady, 1998. "Housing Market Fluctuations in a Life-Cycle Economy with Credit Constraints," FMG Discussion Papers dp296, Financial Markets Group. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Christopher D Carroll & Wendy E Dunn, 1997. "Unemployment Expectations Jumping (Ss) Triggers and Household Balance Sheets," Economics Working Paper Archive 386, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  7. Mariacristina Nardi, 2004. "Wealth Inequality and Intergenerational Links," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 71, pages 743-768, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Antonia Díaz & Maria Jose Luengo-Prado, 2006. "The Wealth Distribution With Durable Goods," Economics Working Papers we067027, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía. [Downloadable!]
  9. Edward L. Glaeser & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2002. "The Benefits of the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction," NBER Working Papers 9284, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Tauchen, George & Hussey, Robert, 1991. "Quadrature-Based Methods for Obtaining Approximate Solutions to Nonlinear Asset Pricing Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(2), pages 371-96, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Charles Yuji Horioka & Hideki Fujisaki & Wako Watanabe & Takatsugu Kouno, 2000. "Are Americans More Altruistic than the Japanese? A U.S.-Japan Comparison of Saving and Bequest Motives," NBER Working Papers 7463, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Orazio P. Attanasio & James Banks & Costas Meghir & Guglielmo Weber, 1995. "Humps and Bumps in Lifetime Consumption," NBER Working Papers 5350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. James Banks & Richard Blundell & James P. Smith, 2002. "Wealth Portfolios in the UK and the US," NBER Working Papers 9128, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Edward L. Glaeser & Jessse M. Shapiro, 2002. "The Benefits of the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1979, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  15. Kim, Kyung-Hwan, 2004. "Housing and the Korean economy," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 321-341, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Fang Yang, 2005. "Consumption Along the Life Cycle: How Different is Housing?," 2005 Meeting Papers 718, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Yoshiro Miwa & Matthew Chambers & Carlos Garriga & Don E. Schlagenhauf, 2004. "Accounting for Changes in the Homeownership Rate," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-312, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Brent W. Ambrose & Sunwoong Kim, 2003. "Modeling the Korean Chonsei Lease Contract," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 53-74, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Grossman, Sanford J & Laroque, Guy, 1990. "Asset Pricing and Optimal Portfolio Choice in the Presence of Illiquid Durable Consumption Goods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 25-51, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Tokuo Iwaisako, 2003. "Household Portfolios in Japan," NBER Working Papers 9647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Sang-Wook Stanley Cho & Johanna Francis, 2008. "Tax Treatment of Owner Occupied Housing and Wealth Inequality," Fordham Economics Discussion Paper Series dp2008-17, Fordham University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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