Household portfolios in Japan

I provide a detailed description and in-depth analysis of household portfolios in Japan. (1) It is shown that the share of equities in financial wealth and the stock market participation of Japanese households decreased throughout the 1990s. (2) Using survey data, age-related variations in the share of stocks in financial wealth are analyzed. The equity share and stock market participation increase with age among young households, peaking when people reach their 50s, and then stabilizing. However, the share of equities conditional on ownership exhibits no significant age-related pattern, implying that age-related patterns are primarily explained by the decision to hold stocks. A similar mechanism operates to that found in previous studies of Western countries. (3) Owner-occupied housing has a significantly positive effect on stock market participation and on the share of stocks in financial wealth. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.