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Inflation Expectations of Japanese Households: Micro Evidence from a Consumer Confidence Survey

Author

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  • Hori, Masahiro
  • Kawagoe, Masaaki
Abstract
Economists unanimously agree that economic agents’ expectations are crucially important in determining macroeconomic outcomes. However, mainstream macroeconomists usually simply assume that expectations are rational, leaving unexamined the fundamental question whether individual agents’ actual expectations are rational or not. Against this background, this study examines the properties of Japanese households’ inflation expectations using micro-based inflation expectations data from the Monthly Consumer Confidence Survey Covering All of Japan. Our analyses show that actual inflation expectations by Japanese households are not rational in the sense that they are upward biased, at least ex post, and individual households appear not to instantaneously incorporate into their expectations information that is freely available from news reports on the views of professional forecasters. Our findings, moreover, suggest that while the sticky information model appears to better explain inflation expectations dynamics (than rational expectations models), we encounter a handful of facts that look inconsistent with the simple model.

Suggested Citation

  • Hori, Masahiro & Kawagoe, Masaaki, 2011. "Inflation Expectations of Japanese Households: Micro Evidence from a Consumer Confidence Survey," CIS Discussion paper series 530, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:cisdps:530
    Note: This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the ESRI International Conference 2009 in Tokyo on June 29, 2009.
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    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/21183/cis_dp530.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. N. Gregory Mankiw & Ricardo Reis, 2002. "Sticky Information versus Sticky Prices: A Proposal to Replace the New Keynesian Phillips Curve," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1295-1328.
    2. N. Gregory Mankiw & Ricardo Reis & Justin Wolfers, 2004. "Disagreement about Inflation Expectations," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2003, Volume 18, pages 209-270, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kahn, Shulamit, 1997. "Evidence of Nominal Wage Stickiness from Microdata," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(5), pages 993-1008, December.
    4. Batchelor, Roy & Dua, Pami, 1991. "Blue Chip Rationality Tests," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 23(4), pages 692-705, November.
    5. Masahiro Hori & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2005. "Price expectations and consumption under deflation: evidence from Japanese household survey data," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 127-151, November.
    6. Christopher D. Carroll, 2003. "Macroeconomic Expectations of Households and Professional Forecasters," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 269-298.
    7. Lloyd B. Thomas, 1999. "Survey Measures of Expected U.S. Inflation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 125-144, Fall.
    8. KOMINE Takao & BAN Kanemi & KAWAGOE Masaaki & YOSHIDA Hiroshi, 2009. "What Have We Learned from a Survey of Japanese Professional Forecasters? Taking Stock of Four Years of ESP Forecast Experience," ESRI Discussion paper series 214, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    9. KAWAGOE Masaaki, 2007. "Is the Consensus Forecast Just the Average? -- Re-examining an Evaluation of the ESP Forecast -- (in Japanese)," ESRI Discussion paper series 180, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hattori, Masazumi & Yetman, James, 2017. "The evolution of inflation expectations in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 53-68.
    2. Chee-Hong Law & Kim Huat Goh, 2024. "A systematic literature review of the implications of media on inflation expectations," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 311-340, May.
    3. Yoshiyuki Nakazono, 2016. "Inflation expectations and monetary policy under disagreements," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 16-E-1, Bank of Japan.
    4. Reid, Monique & Siklos, Pierre & Plessis, Stan Du, 2021. "What drives household inflation expectations in South Africa? Demographics and anchoring under inflation targeting," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(3).
    5. Junichi Kikuchi & Yoshiyuki Nakazono, 2023. "The Formation of Inflation Expectations: Microdata Evidence from Japan," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(6), pages 1609-1632, September.
    6. Ueno, Yuko, 2014. "Updating Behavior of Inflation Expectations: Evidence from Japanese Household Panel Data," CIS Discussion paper series 617, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Shioji, Etsuro, 2015. "Time varying pass-through: Will the yen depreciation help Japan hit the inflation target?," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 43-58.
    8. NAKAJIMA, Jouchi, 2023. "Estimation of firms' inflation expectations using the survey DI," Discussion Paper Series 749, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    9. Yosuke Uno & Saori Naganuma & Naoko Hara, 2018. "New Facts about Firms' Inflation Expectations: Simple Tests for a Sticky Information Model," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 18-E-14, Bank of Japan.
    10. Etsuro Shioji, 2015. "Time varying pass-through: Will the yen depreciation help Japan hit the inflation," Working Papers e092, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    11. Young Bin Ahn & Yoichi Tsuchiya, 2022. "Consumer’s perceived and expected inflation in Japan—irrationality or asymmetric loss?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1247-1292, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inflation expectations; consumer survey;

    JEL classification:

    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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