This study examines the impact of population aging on regional savings rates in Japan, with particular attention to the regional flow of funds. Population aging has a positive impact on the average savings rate when the working-age population is large, it but has a negative impact when the working-age population decreases. Our empirical results, based on prefecture-level panel data, support the theoretical implication. After the mid-1990s, the working-age population declined, and the retired age population increased in many prefectures. As a result, population aging, which had a positive effect on the regional savings rate until the mid-1990s, came to have a negative effect thereafter. The empirical results suggest that in rural economies where deposits exceeded loans in the past, deposits are expected to decline due to the aging of society, resulting in a shortage of funds in the near future.

本研究考察了人口老龄化对日本区域储蓄率的影响，特别关注区域资金流动。当劳动年龄人口较多时，人口老龄化对平均储蓄率有积极影响，而在劳动年龄人口减少时则有消极影响。我们基于地级面板数据的实证结果支持了理论含义。1990年代中期以后，许多地州劳动年龄人口下降，退休年龄人口增加。结果，人口老龄化在 1990 年代中期之前对区域储蓄率产生了积极影响，此后开始产生消极影响。实证结果表明，在过去存款超过贷款的农村经济中，由于社会老龄化，存款预计会下降，