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Asset Accumulation in Rural Households during the Post‐Showa Depression Reconstruction: A Panel Data Analysis*
Author(s) -
Kusadokoro Motoi,
Maru Takeshi,
Takashima Masanori
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
asian economic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.345
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1467-8381
pISSN - 1351-3958
DOI - 10.1111/asej.12091
Subject(s) - cash , economics , asset (computer security) , panel data , stock (firearms) , consumption (sociology) , depression (economics) , monetary economics , buffer stock scheme , finance , macroeconomics , econometrics , geography , social science , computer security , archaeology , sociology , computer science
This paper investigates asset accumulation in Japanese farm households during reconstruction following the Showa Depression. After the Showa Depression, farm households emphasized accumulation of cash and quasi‐money rather than productive assets. The accumulation of cash and quasi‐money is consistent with the buffer stock hypothesis. Evidence regarding accumulation of livestock, which is sometimes used as the buffer stock in modern developing countries, is not conclusive. The presence of well‐developed financial institutions in prewar Japan may have allowed farm households to smooth consumption via cash and quasi‐money.