Precautionary Savings in the Great Recession /

Heightened uncertainty since the onset of the Great Recession has materially increased saving rates, contributing to lower consumption and GDP growth. Consistent with a model of precautionary savings in the face of uncertainty, we find for a panel of advanced economies that greater labor income unce...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mody, Ashoka
Other Authors: Ohnsorge, Franziska, Sandri, Damiano
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2012.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2012/042
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:Heightened uncertainty since the onset of the Great Recession has materially increased saving rates, contributing to lower consumption and GDP growth. Consistent with a model of precautionary savings in the face of uncertainty, we find for a panel of advanced economies that greater labor income uncertainty is significantly associated with higher household savings. These results are robust to controlling for other determinants of saving rates, including wealth-to-income ratios, the government fiscal balance, demographics, credit conditions, and global growth and financial stress. Our estimates imply that at least two-fifths of the sharp increase in household saving rates between 2007 and 2009 can be attributed to the precautionary savings motive.
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Physical Description:1 online resource (38 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students