The gWill h to Save in China

Ting Yin

No 11-24, Discussion Papers in Economics and Business from Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics

Abstract: In this paper, I discuss the actual conditions and determinants of the saving behavior and wealth holdings of the aged in China, with emphasis on the impact of bequest motives thereon, using micro data from the 2009 gSurvey of Living Preferences and Satisfaction h (urban households) and the 2010 gSurvey of Living Preferences and Satisfaction h (rural households), which were conducted in February 2009 and January 2010, respectively, as part of the Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) Program on gBehavioral Macro-dynamics based on Surveys and Experiments h of the Graduate School of Economics and the Institute of Social and Economic Research of Osaka University. I found that bequest motives are strong in China, with more than 87 percent of respondents in urban areas, more than 75 percent in rural areas, and more than 85 percent in the country as a whole having a bequest motive, that these bequests are motivated primarily by altruism, that there is little evidence that aged households in China dissave (decumulate their wealth), and that altruistic and selfish bequest motives, especially the latter, increase the saving (or reduce the dissaving) of aged households.

Keywords: Bequest motives; saving behavior; wealth accumulation; life-cycle model; altruism model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D91 E21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2011-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-evo
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osk:wpaper:1124

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