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How Do Migrants Save? Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey on Temporary and Permanent Migrants versus Natives

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe De Arcangelis

    (Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali ed Economiche, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy).)

  • Majlinda Joxhe

    (Department of Economics and Social Science, American University of Rome John Cabot (Italy).)

Abstract

This paper investigates the saving behavior of migrants in UK across different dimensions, i.e. comparing temporary versus permanent migrants and migrants versus natives. Established theoretical predictions show that migrants save more when they plan to stay at destination only temporarily as target savers. Our empirical evidence takes into account the contemporaneous choice of savings and remittances. Moreover, when comparing the saving profiles of both natives and migrants, we uncover the weight of observable socio-economic characteristics other than income and wealth. We use the British Household Panel Survey for the period 1991-2008. The estimation results confirm that temporary migrants have a propensity to save 26% per cent higher than permanent migrants in UK. We also introduce an index of financial capability adjusted for income and, when employing the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition for the Tobit model of saving choice, migrants are more affected by other observable social economic characteristics than natives.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe De Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 2014. "How Do Migrants Save? Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey on Temporary and Permanent Migrants versus Natives," Working Papers 11/14, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    • Handle: RePEc:saq:wpaper:11/14
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    Cited by:

    1. Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2023. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 117-174, March.
    2. Bastien Chabé-Ferret & Joel Machado, 2017. "The Impact of Intention to Leave on Immigrants’ Behaviour," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(03), pages 16-19, October.
    3. Joxhe, Majlinda & Scaramozzino, Pasquale & Zanaj, Skerdilajda, 2021. "Fiscal Position of Immigrants in Europe: A Quantile Regression Approach," GLO Discussion Paper Series 758, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Chabé-Ferret, Bastien & Machado, Joël & Wahba, Jackline, 2018. "Remigration intentions and migrants' behavior," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 56-72.
    5. Irene Ferrari, 2020. "The nativity wealth gap in Europe: a matching approach," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 33-77, January.
    6. Bastien Chabé-Ferret & Joël Machado & Jackline Wahba, 2016. "Return Plans and Migrants' Behavior," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2016016, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    7. Majlinda Joxhe & Pasquale Scaramozzino & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2024. "The Public Finance Position of Immigrants in Europe: A Quantile Regression Approach," Public Finance Review, , vol. 52(2), pages 182-221, March.
    8. Akay, Alpaslan & Brausmann, Alexandra & Djajić, Slobodan & Kırdar, Murat G., 2021. "Purchasing-power-parity and the saving behavior of temporary migrants," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    9. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:3:p:50000000000046 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Shirin Akter, 2018. "Do remittances and foreign aid augment the gross savings: Bangladesh, India and Philippines perspective?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(4), pages 449-463, December.
    11. Hannah Zillessen, 2022. "Uncertainty, Citizenship & Migrant Saving Choices," Economics Series Working Papers 1008, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Temporary Migration; Savings; Remittances; Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • C40 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - General

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