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Savings behavior among immigrants and their U.S.-born children: A test of the culture-transplant model

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  • Richwine, Jason

Abstract

The economic impact of immigration involves the movement of more than just labor and capital. Under the culture-transplant model, immigrants carry from their birth countries distinctive values and behaviors that they transmit to their descendants in their new countries. This study tests the model by examining the savings disposition of immigrants and their U.S.-born children. It finds a robust link between individuals’ savings and the national savings rates of their ancestral countries. In a midrange estimate, a 1 percentage-point increase in ancestral-country savings rates is associated with a 1 percent increase in retirement savings among second-generation immigrants. These results suggest that savings behavior has a cultural basis that persists in the generation after migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Richwine, Jason, 2023. "Savings behavior among immigrants and their U.S.-born children: A test of the culture-transplant model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:231:y:2023:i:c:s016517652300304x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2023.111279
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cary Wu, 2021. "How Stable is Generalized Trust? Internal Migration and the Stability of Trust Among Canadians," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 129-147, January.
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    5. Duncan, Brian & Grogger, Jeffrey & Leon, Ana Sofia & Trejo, Stephen J., 2020. "New evidence of generational progress for Mexican Americans," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Jason Richwine, 2025. "Cultural Preference for Redistribution in the United States: An Epidemiological Approach," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 53(3), pages 231-244, September.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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