The "Will" to Save in China

Ting Yin

Japanese Economy, 2012, vol. 39, issue 3, 99-135

Abstract: In this article, 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, using microdata from the February 2009 "Survey of Living Preferences and Satisfaction" (urban households) and the January 2010 "Survey of Living Preferences and Satisfaction" (rural households), which were conducted as part of the Global Center of Excellence Program on "Human Behavior and Socioeconomic Dynamics" 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. These bequests are motivated primarily by altruism. There is little evidence that aged households in China dissave (decumulate their wealth). Altruistic and selfish bequest motives, especially the latter, increase the saving (or reduce the dissaving) of aged households.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.2753/JES1097-203X390306

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