Determinants of the Household Saving Rate in Austria

The last few decades have seen a decline in the household saving rate in Austria and other industrial countries. Using an error correction model, this paper shows that in Austria personal saving decisions are influenced by income growth, real interest rates, inflation, social security expenditure and the general government budget balance. These findings are becoming increasingly important for economic policy, given the aging of society and the concomitant need for pension system reform. In future, households will be required to make greater provision for themselves and step up their saving efforts. As the results show, this can be achieved by productivity-boosting measures that generate income growth and promote personal saving.