Asset Allocation in Rural Tokugawa Japan: The Case of Niita Village of Nihonmatsu Domain, 1720-1870

Q15

N35

This paper presents statistical facts about land distribution among households in Niita village of Nihonmatsu domain. The average Gini over our observation period is 0.407, suggesting relatively equal asset distribution from a comparative historical point of view. A certain degree of liquidity in assets was based on the villageʼs administrative distribution and we find a sign that the lower limit of assets to be held by each household was regulated. We relate these findings to the village taxation system（murauke-sei）. To fulfil the tax obligation, villages were incentivized to maintain the number of households by securing the lower limit of landholdings. This truncated the left-tail of the land distribution. At the same time, the obligation to pay fixed tax regardless of actual harvest lowered the expected return on assets and reduced the incentive for asset accumulation, suppressing the expansion of the right-tail of the land distribution.