Research Planning Grant: Savings and Development

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，在南亚经济体中，贫困与家庭储蓄率并存，家庭储蓄率平均占可支配收入的16%。在这些经济体中，限制收入增长的似乎不是储蓄率，而是家庭以相对低收益形式持有储蓄的明显意愿。理解其中的原因，对于制定提高储蓄效率并相应地增加收入的政策至关重要。令人惊讶的是，尽管这个话题的重要性显而易见，但很少有实证研究。这项研究计划赠款将允许研究者开发一个实证研究项目，研究南亚经济体中预期婚姻报酬和收入变化作为家庭储蓄动机的相对重要性。这项研究具有重要的政策意义。认为收入不确定性和信贷限制激励家庭储蓄并导致家庭贫困的信念导致了一篇有影响力的文献，主张对信贷和保险市场进行干预。相比之下，如果家庭为消费开支而储蓄，如果这使资产从增加收入的投资中转移，那么更有效的政策将针对妇女教育和就业等领域的投资，这些领域可能会产生减少嫁妆的效果。

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.