Replication Data for: Aging and the Politics of Monetary Policy in Japan

This paper explores how Japan’s aging population impacts the politics of monetary
policy. Previous research suggest that the elderly have a variety of distinct policy
preferences. Given that elderly voters also have higher voting rates, the rapid greying
of the population could have significant effects on distributive struggles over economic
policy across much of the developed world. In Japan, aging is advancing rapidly, and
the central bank has engaged in massive monetary stimulus to induce inflation, which
existing work suggests the elderly should oppose. Analyzing results from three
surveys, this paper has three central findings: (1) the elderly tend to have higher
inflation aversion, (2) the elderly display some opposition to quantitative easing (QE),
and (3) despite such policy preferences, the concentration of elderly in electoral
districts has no significant effect on the preferences either of legislative incumbents or
candidates. The third finding is attributable to the fact that elderly opposition to
quantitative easing is moderated by their partisan identification. Elderly Liberal
Democratic Party voters have systematically lower opposition to quantitative easing,
likely reflecting that these voters have aligned their preferences with the LDP’s policies.