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Why Do the Rich Save More? A Theory and Australian Evidence

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  • DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABARTY
  • HAJIME KATAYAMA
  • HANNA MASLEN

Abstract

We provide a theory to explain the existence of inequality in an economy where agents have identical preferences and have access to the same production technology. Agents consume a ‘health’ good which determines their subjective discount factor. Depending on initial distribution of capital the economy gets separated into different permanent‐income groups. This leads to a testable hypothesis: ‘The rich save a larger proportion of their permanent‐income’. We test this implication for savings behaviour in Australia. We find that even after controlling for lifecycle and health characteristics, higher permanent income is positively related with higher savings rates and better saving habits.

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  • Debajyoti Chakrabarty & Hajime Katayama & Hanna Maslen, 2008. "Why Do the Rich Save More? A Theory and Australian Evidence," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 32-44, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:84:y:2008:i:s1:p:s32-s44
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2008.00481.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Debajyoti Chakrabarty, 2023. "Relative deprivation, time preference, and economic growth," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 19(3), pages 489-525, September.
    3. Néstor Gandelman, 2017. "Do the rich save more in Latin America?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 15(1), pages 75-92, March.
    4. Dutta, Dilip & Yang, Yibai, 2012. "Endogenous time preference: evidence from Australian households' behaviour," Working Papers 2012-07, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    5. Daniel Spiro, 2021. "An Open-Economy Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans Model in Reduced Form," CESifo Working Paper Series 9293, CESifo.
    6. Wei-Ting Pan, 2016. "The Impact of Mandatory Savings on Life Cycle Consumption and Portfolio Choice," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 32, July-Dece.
    7. Willi Semmler & Raphaële Chappe, 2011. "The Operation of Hedge Funds: Econometric Evidence, Dynamic Modeling, and Regulatory Perspectives," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Greg N. Gregoriou & Razvan Pascalau (ed.), Financial Econometrics Modeling: Derivatives Pricing, Hedge Funds and Term Structure Models, chapter 1, pages 3-34, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Debajyoti Chakrabarty, 2022. "Taxation and human capital accumulation with endogenous mortality," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 73(4), pages 555-596, October.
    9. Wei-Ting Pan, 2016. "The Impact of Mandatory Savings on Life Cycle Consumption and Portfolio Choice," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 2-2016.
    10. Néstor Gandelman, 2017. "Do the rich save more in Latin America?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 15(1), pages 75-92, March.
    11. Raphaele Chappe & Willi Semmler, 2019. "Financial Market as Driver for Disparity in Wealth Accumulation—A Receding Horizon Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 1231-1261, October.

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