Research Planning Grant: Savings and Development

小行星9529949 虽然贫穷通常与低储蓄率有关，但一些发展中国家的一个显著特点是极端贫穷与高储蓄率并存。 例如，在南亚经济体，贫困与家庭储蓄率并存，平均储蓄率为可支配收入的16%。 在这些经济体中，收入增长似乎不太受储蓄率的制约，而是受家庭显然愿意以收益相对较低的形式持有储蓄的制约。 理解为什么会这样，对于制定提高储蓄生产率并相应增加收入的政策至关重要。 令人惊讶的是，很少有实证研究对这个问题，尽管它的明显的重要性。 这项研究规划补助金将允许调查员制定一个实证研究计划的相对重要性，预期的婚姻付款和收入的变化作为动机的家庭储蓄在南亚经济体。 这项研究具有重要的政策意义。 收入的不确定性和信贷限制促使家庭储蓄并加剧家庭贫困，这一观点产生了一种有影响力的文献，主张对信贷和保险市场进行干预。 相反，如果家庭为消费开支而储蓄，如果这会使资产从增加收入的投资中转移出来，则更有效的政策将针对妇女教育和就业等领域的投资，这可能会减少嫁妆付款。

9529949 Kochar While poverty is generally associated with low rates of saving, a striking feature of a number of developing countries is the coexistence of extreme poverty with high savings rates. In the South Asian economies, for example, poverty coexists with household savings rates which average 16% of disposable income. In such economies income growth appears to be constrained not so much by the rate of savings but by the apparent willingness of households to hold their savings in relatively low yielding forms. Understanding why this is so is critical for designing policy which enhances the productivity of savings, and, correspondingly, increases income. Surprisingly, there is little empirical research on this topic, despite its obvious importance. This research planning grant will permit the investigator to develop an empirical research program on the relative importance of expected marriage payments and the variability in earnings as motives for household savings in south Asian economies. This research carries important policy implications. The belief that income uncertainty and credit constraints motivate household savings and contribute to the poverty of households has resulted in an influential literature which advocates interventions in credit and insurance markets. In contrast, if households save for consumption expenses and if it is this which diverts assets from income-enhancing investments, the more effective policy would target investments in areas such as women's education and employment which may have the effect of reducing dowry payments.