The Competitive Saving Motive: Evidence from Rising Sex Ratios and Savings Rates in China

被引：493

作者：

Wei, Shang-Jin ^{[1
,2
]}

Zhang, Xiaobo ^{[3
]}

机构：

[1] Columbia Univ, Natl Bur Econ Res, Chung Hua Inst Econ Res, New York, NY 10027 USA

[2] Ctr Econ Policy Res, Washington, DC USA

[3] Int Food Policy Res Inst, Washington, DC USA

来源：

JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY | 2011年 / 119卷 / 03期

关键词：

MISSING WOMEN; MARRIAGE; MARKETS;

D O I：

10.1086/660887

中图分类号：

F [经济];

学科分类号：

02 ;

摘要：

The high and rising household savings rate in China is not easily reconciled with the traditional explanations that emphasize life cycle factors, the precautionary saving motive, financial development, or habit formation. This paper proposes a new competitive saving motive: as the sex ratio rises, Chinese parents with a son raise their savings in a competitive manner in order to improve their son's relative attractiveness for marriage. The pressure on savings spills over to other households. Both cross-regional and household-level evidence supports this hypothesis. This factor can potentially account for about half the actual increase in the household savings rate during 1990-2007.

引用

页码：511 / 564

页数：54