Work

The cultural origin of saving behavior

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Traditional economic interpretations have not been successful in explaining differences in saving rates across countries. One hypothesis is that savings respond to cultural specific social norms. The accepted view in economics so far is that culture does not have any effect on savings. We revisit this evidence using a novel dataset, which allows us to study the saving behavior of up to three generations of immigrants in the United Kingdom. Against the backdrop of existing evidence, we find that cultural preferences are an important explanation for cross-country differences in saving behavior, and their relevance persists up to three generations.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202290

Authors: Joan Costa-Font, Paola Giuliano, Berkay Ozcan

Institutions: London School of Economics and Political Science, National Bureau of Economic Research, University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: Culture, Economy, and Development Studies

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,382

OpenAlex ID: W2886445102

FWCI: 5.685

Cites: 27

Cited by: 37

Related to: 10