IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v70y2009i1-2p282-295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The saving decline: Macro-facts, micro-behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Bunting, David

Abstract

The macro-saving rate is decomposed into micro-components and a procedure developed to calculate household saving rates using income and expenditure shares, found with survey data for 1950, 1961, 1972 and 1980 to 2005. Low, middle and high income saving rates are calculated under alternative conditions: with income and expenditure shares alone, with changes in assets and liabilities added, with constant aggregate income, and for age-income groups. Problems of apparently excessive dissaving rates are considered. Overall, despite stable high income saving, collapsing middle income saving and increasing low income dissaving precipitated the decline in aggregate saving.

Suggested Citation

  • Bunting, David, 2009. "The saving decline: Macro-facts, micro-behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 282-295, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:70:y:2009:i:1-2:p:282-295
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167-2681(09)00009-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan A. Parker, 2000. "Spendthrift in America? On Two Decades of Decline in the US Saving Rate," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1999, Volume 14, pages 317-387, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Orazio P. Attanasio, 1998. "Consumption Demand," NBER Working Papers 6466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Milton Friedman, 1957. "Introduction to "A Theory of the Consumption Function"," NBER Chapters, in: A Theory of the Consumption Function, pages 1-6, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. A Lusardi & J Skinner & S Venti, 2001. "Saving puzzles and saving policies in the United States," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 17(1), pages 95-115, Spring.
    5. F. Thomas Juster & Joseph P. Lupton & James P. Smith & Frank Stafford, 2006. "The Decline in Household Saving and the Wealth Effect," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 20-27, February.
    6. Barry P. Bosworth & Lisa Bell, 2005. "The Decline in Household Saving: What Can We Learn from Survey Data?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2005-15, Center for Retirement Research, revised Dec 2005.
    7. William Vickrey, 1947. "Resource Distribution Patterns and the Classification of Families," NBER Chapters, in: Studies in Income and Wealth, Volume 10, pages 266-297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. David Bunting, 1998. "Distributional Basis of Aggregate Consumption," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 389-413, March.
    9. Martin Browning & Annamaria Lusardi, 1996. "Household Saving: Micro Theories and Micro Facts," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 1797-1855, December.
    10. Ana M. Aizcorbe & Arthur B. Kennickell & Kevin B. Moore, 2003. "Recent changes in U.S. family finances: evidence from the 1998 and 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 89(Jan), pages 1-32, January.
    11. Milton H. Marquis, 2002. "What's behind the low U.S. personal saving rate?," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue mar29.
    12. Milton Friedman, 1957. "A Theory of the Consumption Function," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie57-1, July.
    13. Karen E. Dynan & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, 2004. "Do the Rich Save More?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 397-444, April.
    14. George Garvy, 1948. "The Role of Dissaving in Economic Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(5), pages 416-416.
    15. Kevin J. Lansing, 2005. "Spendthrift nation," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue nov10.
    16. Dean M. Maki & Michael G. Palumbo, 2001. "Disentangling the wealth effect: a cohort analysis of household saving in the 1990s," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2001-21, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Massimo Guidolin & Elizabeth A. La Jeunesse, 2007. "The decline in the U.S. personal saving rate: is it real and is it a puzzle?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 89(Nov), pages 491-514.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yao, Rui & Sharpe, Deanna L. & Wang, Feifei, 2011. "Decomposing the age effect on risk tolerance," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 879-887.
    2. Domonkos, Tomas & Fisera, Boris & Siranova, Maria, 2023. "Income inequality as long-term conditioning factor of monetary transmission to bank rates," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Wiesław Dębski & Bartosz Świderski, 2016. "An Allocation Analysis of Polish Household Savings Invested in Financial Assets, 2003 – 2014," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 10(2), June.
    4. Lučivjanská, Katarína & Lyócsa, Štefan & Radvanský, Marek & Širaňová, Mária, 2022. "Return adjusted charge ratios: What drives fees and costs of pension schemes?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Walden, 2012. "Will Households Change Their Saving Behaviour After the “Great Recession”? The Role of Human Capital," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 237-254, June.
    2. Mr. Christopher Carroll & Mr. Martin Sommer & Mr. Jiri Slacalek, 2012. "Dissecting Saving Dynamics: Measuring Wealth, Precautionary, and Credit Effects," IMF Working Papers 2012/219, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Néstor Gandelman, 2015. "A Comparison of Saving Rates: Micro Evidence from Seventeen Latin American and Caribbean Countries," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 90556, Inter-American Development Bank.
    4. Emilio Fernandez-Corugedo, 2004. "Consumption Theory," Handbooks, Centre for Central Banking Studies, Bank of England, number 23, April.
    5. Eva Sierminska & Yelena Takhtamanova, 2006. "Wealth Effects Out of Financial and Housing Wealth: Cross Country and Age Group Comparisons," LWS Working papers 4, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    6. Patti Fisher, 2013. "Is There Evidence of Loss Aversion in Saving Behaviors in Spain?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 41-51, March.
    7. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h6m8hj429 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Céline Antonin, 2009. "Age, revenu et comportements d'épargne des ménages : une analyse théorique et empirique sur la période 1978-2006," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqi, Sciences Po.
    9. Alvarez-Cuadrado, Francisco & Van Long, Ngo, 2011. "The relative income hypothesis," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1489-1501, September.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h6m8hj429 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Andrea Butelmann & Francisco Gallego, 2001. "Estimaciones de los determinantes del ahorro coluntario de los hogares en Chile (1988-1997)," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Felipe Morandé & Rodrigo Vergara & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Edit (ed.),Análisis Empírico del Ahorro en Chile, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 141-190, Central Bank of Chile.
    12. Martin Browning & Thomas F. Crossley, 2001. "The Life-Cycle Model of Consumption and Saving," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 3-22, Summer.
    13. Gandelman, Néstor, 2015. "A Comparison of Saving Rates: Micro Evidence from Seventeen Latin American and Caribbean Countries," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7136, Inter-American Development Bank.
    14. Edyta Marcinkiewicz, 2018. "Does the retirement saving motive foster higher savings? The evidence from the Polish household survey," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(1), pages 85-96, January.
    15. Monica Paiella, 2009. "The Stock Market, Housing And Consumer Spending: A Survey Of The Evidence On Wealth Effects," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 947-973, December.
    16. Willem Vanlaer & Samantha Bielen & Wim Marneffe, 2020. "Consumer Confidence and Household Saving Behaviors: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 677-721, January.
    17. Bram De Rock & Bart Capéau, 2015. "The implications of household size and children for life-cycle saving," Working Paper Research 286, National Bank of Belgium.
    18. Fisher, Patti J. & Montalto, Catherine P., 2010. "Effect of saving motives and horizon on saving behaviors," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 92-105, February.
    19. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h6m8hj429 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. International Monetary Fund, 2005. "Ireland: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2005/370, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Nestor Gandelman, "undated". "A comparison of saving rates: micro evidence from sixteen Latin American andCaribbean countries," Documentos de Investigación 101, Universidad ORT Uruguay. Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales.
    22. Davoine, Thomas, 2012. "Time constraints, saving and old age," Economics Working Paper Series 1221, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    23. Patti Fisher & Catherine Montalto, 2011. "Loss Aversion and Saving Behavior: Evidence from the 2007 U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 4-14, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:70:y:2009:i:1-2:p:282-295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.