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The Discrepancy Between the Household Saving Rates in Micro and Macro Statistics: An Adjustment Method

Author

Listed:
  • Takashi Unayama

    (Associate professor, Hitotsubashi University; Senior Research Fellow, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance)

  • Yasutaka Yoneta

    (Ph.D. candidate, Hitotsubashi University; Visiting Scholar, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance)

Abstract

The household saving rates in the “System of National Accounts (SNA)” and the “Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES)”, which were at the nearly same level in 1980, has deviated significantly after that. In 2015, the difference range was 25.9%. In this paper, we have identified the reasons for the discrepancies between the two statistics. The average difference over the period from 1994 to 2015 is 21.3 percentage point, and 93.2% of them can be explained with the identified factors: (1) differences in coverages of each survey; (2) differences in the concept of income and consumption; and (3) non-sampling errors in the FIES. While it has been known that these factors can explain most of the differences, our results confirm that the discussions are still valid with the 2008 SNA, which was newly introduced in Japan.

Suggested Citation

  • Takashi Unayama & Yasutaka Yoneta, 2018. "The Discrepancy Between the Household Saving Rates in Micro and Macro Statistics: An Adjustment Method," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 14(4), pages 765-776, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:mof:journl:ppr14_04_10
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melvin Stephens & Takashi Unayama, 2011. "The Consumption Response to Seasonal Income: Evidence from Japanese Public Pension Benefits," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 86-118, October.
    2. Hayashi, Fumio & Ito, Takatoshi & Slemrod, Joel, 1988. "Housing finance imperfections, taxation, and private saving: A comparative simulation analysis of the United States and Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 215-238, September.
    3. Shunji Tada & Koyo Miyoshi, 2015. "Verifying household incomes in Japanese statistics," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 11(4), pages 531-546, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hiroaki Sasaki & Noriki Fukatani & Daisuke Imai & Yusuke Kamanaka, 2025. "Sustainable Economic Growth in an Economy With Exhaustible Resources and a Declining Population Under the Balance‐of‐Payments Constraint," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3), pages 328-345, July.
    2. Sasaki, Hiroaki & Mino, Kazuo, 2024. "Effects of exhaustible resources and declining population on economic growth with Hotelling’s rule," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Sasaki, Hiroaki, 2023. "Growth with automation capital and declining population," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    4. Sagiri Kitao & Tomoaki Yamada, 2025. "The time trend and life-cycle profiles of consumption," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 71-111, March.
    5. Charles Yuji Horioka, 2026. "The Past and Future of Japan's Household Saving Rate (in Japanese: 「日本の家計貯蓄率の過去と将来」)," ISER Discussion Paper 1305, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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