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Buffer Stock Savings by Portfolio Adjustment: Evidence from Rural India

Author

Listed:
  • Katsushi S. Imai

    (School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester (UK) and RIEB, Kobe University (Japan))

  • Bilal Malaeb

    (Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK)

Abstract

The empirical literature on household savings tends to treat savings simply as the residual of income minus consumption. This paper takes a unique approach to reconstruct the cash and asset balances using detailed household transaction data on farm households in rural India and generates monthly and seasonal ICRISAT panel data for the period 1976-1983. We have found that households - irrespective of their landholding status - cope with temporary shocks quite well by using crop inventory, currency and capital assets, rather than livestock, as buffer assets. The importance of portfolio adjustments in smoothing consumption is also confirmed by the use of a system of equations in which both portfolio and production decisions are made endogenous. It is concluded that not only the level but also the diversification of household assets are important for buffering consumption. As an extension, we have explored the monthly ICRISAT panel data for the period 2009-2012 in the same villages to investigate and compare any changes in behavioral responses to income shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Katsushi S. Imai & Bilal Malaeb, 2014. "Buffer Stock Savings by Portfolio Adjustment: Evidence from Rural India," Discussion Paper Series DP2014-14, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, revised Oct 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2014-14
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    File URL: https://www.rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp/academic/ra/dp/English/DP2014-14.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2014
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    Cited by:

    1. Park, Bokyeong & Kennedy Ochieng, Haggai, 2024. "The impacts of rural development project on resilience to climatic disasters: The case of Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Buffer Stock; Savings; Consumption; Credit; Portfolio Adjustment; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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