The Empirical Study of Japanese Deposit Withdrawal Behaviors on Unstable Financial Environment

Problem statement: We need to analyze to withdrawal behavior rather than deposit behavior on the situation which financial institutions might fail. However, there are few studies on withdrawal behavior although there are various studies on individual deposit behavior. Approach: Our purpose of this study is to investigate relationships between individual’s deposit withdrawal behavior and economic and psychological factors using micro data from an Internet (Web-based) survey. Results: We confirm that individual’s withdrawal behavior is strongly affected by not only economic factors, but also psychological factors. In many cases, sign of estimated coefficient of economic factors are consistent with theory of economic behavior. In addition, effects of psychological factors such as degree of trust in information sources and degree of risk aversion are not uniformly against individual’s deposit-withdrawal behavior. Furthermore, we confirm that the probability that they carelessly withdraw their deposits tends to be lower if individuals correctly understand Japanese deposit insurance scheme. Conclusion: For reducing the ratio of individuals who do not correctly understand the Japanese deposit insurance scheme, we propose that the government should announce and educate the scheme to people strongly.