ABSTRACT

The main objective of the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy is inflation targeting; however, it may be associated with the recently increased income disparity in Japan. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation model, this study conducted in the context of an aging society revealed that the bank’s monetary policy increased income inequality through increased financial asset prices, resulting in a widening of the income gap. We also find that in the long run, the aging population will increase income disparity in Japan; however, tax policy will partially mitigate the adverse effect on income inequality. Unconventional monetary policy will not bring a desirable result for the Japanese economy and the nation as a whole. In addition, the government needs to revise the incremental tax system so that wealthier groups pay more tax than before. In addition, expanding the tax system by adopting the carbon taxation scheme would be beneficial. The government with this kind of tax can pursue two major goals: reducing poverty and environmental pollution, which are ongoing challenges in Japan.

摘要

日本央行货币政策的主要目标是通货膨胀目标制；然而，这可能与日本最近扩大的收入差距有关。使用自回归分布滞后（ARDL）估计模型，这项在老龄化社会背景下进行的研究表明，银行的货币政策通过提高金融资产价格加剧了收入不平等，导致收入差距扩大。我们还发现，从长远来看，人口老龄化将扩大日本的收入差距；然而，税收政策将部分减轻对收入不平等的不利影响。非常规货币政策不会为日本经济和整个国家带来理想的结果。此外，政府需要修改增量税制，使较富裕的群体缴纳比以前更多的税。此外，通过采用碳税计划来扩大税收体系将是有益的。征收这种税的政府可以实现两个主要目标：减少贫困和环境污染，这是日本持续面临的挑战。