Why Do Children Take Care of Their Elderly Parents? Are the Japanese Any Different?

In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of why individuals provide care and attention to their elderly parents using a two-period overlapping generations model with endogenous saving and a "contest success function" and test this model using micro data from a Japanese household su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNBER Working Paper Series p. 22245
Main Authors Charles Yuji Horioka, Gahramanov, Emin, Aziz Hayat, Tang, Xueli
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc 01.05.2016
Subjects
Altruism
Behavior
Bequests
Caregivers
Comparative analysis
Economic models
Economic statistics
Economic theory
Economics
Elder care
Families & family life
Government subsidies
Households
Income redistribution
Inheritances
Parents & parenting
Psychological aspects
Social life & customs
Social norms
Social research
Studies
United States > US
Japan
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Summary:In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of why individuals provide care and attention to their elderly parents using a two-period overlapping generations model with endogenous saving and a "contest success function" and test this model using micro data from a Japanese household survey, the Osaka University Preference Parameter Study. To summarize our main findings, we find that the Japanese are more likely to live with (or near) their elderly parents and/or to provide care and attention to them if they expect to receive a bequest from them, which constitutes strong support for the selfish bequest motive or the exchange motive (much stronger than in the US), but we find that their caregiving behavior is also heavily influenced by the strength of their altruism toward their parents and social norms.
ISSN:0898-2937
DOI:10.3386/w22245