Explaining the saving puzzles in urban China

Type Journal Article - Review of Income and Wealth
Title Explaining the saving puzzles in urban China
Author(s)
Volume 58
Issue 3
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2012
Page numbers 504-530
URL http://www.roiw.org/2012/n3/504.pdf
Abstract
This paper identifies two saving puzzles obtained from the Chinese Urban Household Survey data from
1990 to 2006. The first saving puzzle is identified by the time trend of household saving rates, which
were stable before 1998, but surged subsequently. The second saving puzzle is associated with the
various age profiles of household saving rates, which are not only inconsistent with the prediction of the
Life Cycle Hypothesis, but also different from the patterns observed in other economies. This paper
constructs pseudo-panel data and empirically examines the applicability of the habit-formation model
in solving the second saving puzzle through the existence of saving rates and the effects of incomerelated
variables. On the other hand, the parametric changes of such variables help explain the first
saving puzzle. The parametric changes possibly stem from the adjustment of habit stock, the rising
transitory shocks of income, and the higher expenditure needs for housing.

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