Household Savings in Selected Southern European Countries Evidence from Cross-Country Micro-Level Data

IMF Working Papers, July 21, 2023

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Household Savings in Selected Southern European Countries Evidence from Cross-Country Micro-Level Data

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: Kamil Dybczak, Shiqing Hua, Mariusz Jarmuzek, Ruifeng Zhang, Yipei Zhang
• Published: July 21, 2023
• Series: IMF Working Papers
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400249075.001

Overview

• Authors: Kamil Dybczak, Shiqing Hua, Mariusz Jarmuzek, Ruifeng Zhang, Yipei Zhang
• Publication date: July 21, 2023
• Type: IMF Working Papers (Working Paper No. 2023/150)
• Core focus: Investigates low household savings in three Southern European (SE3) countries – Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal – using cross-country micro-level data and building on the household saving drivers literature.

Key findings on drivers of household savings

• Confirmed prominent role of:
  • Income
  • Interest rate
  • Inflation
  • Fiscal balance
  • Debt
• Quantile regression results:
  • Households with lower savings tend to see their savings dip (or dissavings rise) more-than-proportionately with shocks to:
  • Income
  • Interest rate
  • Inflation
  • Government balance
• Heterogeneity:
  • Saving patterns vary across households in SE3 countries relative to the EA average.

Policy analysis and simulations

• Policy simulation results across the household distribution:
  • Targeted policy intervention could improve household savings, especially for the most vulnerable households.
  • Targeted interventions are implied to be more effective than universal policy interventions for improving household savings among vulnerable groups.

Methodology notes

• Data: Cross-country micro-level household data (used to examine saving patterns and heterogeneity).
• Econometric approach: Quantile regressions to analyze saving behavior across the distribution of households.

Subjects and keywords

• Subject: Consumption, Disposable income, Income, Income shocks, Inflation, National accounts, Prices
• Keywords: Consumption, Disposable income, distributional analysis, household saving, household saving rate, Household savings, Income, Income shocks, Inflation, inflation shock, policy simulations, saving pattern, Southern Europe

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