A Comparison of the Behavior of Japanese and U.S. Inventories

This paper compares the cyclical and secular behavior of Japanese and U.S. inventories at the aggregate and sectoral level, 1967-1987. While, as is well known, U.S. inventories are sharply procyclical, Japanese inventories are only mildly procyclical. In neither country do inventory and sales move together in the long run, in the sense that the two series do not seem to be cointegrated. In Japan, but not in the U.S., there is a secular decline in the inventory-sales ratio.