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11 – 20 of over 14000
Article
Publication date: 29 June 2021

Enoch Yao Vukey, Irene S. Egyir, Edward Asiedu and Nana Afranaa Kwapong

This paper analysed the motives behind farmers' savings with Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) and the effect of these savings on rice yield in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper analysed the motives behind farmers' savings with Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) and the effect of these savings on rice yield in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta region of Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-stage sampling approach was used to draw a random sample of 222 rice farmers, and a structured questionnaire was employed to collect cross-sectional data. A Likert scale was used to rank the motive behind farmers' savings while the endogenous switching regression model was used to estimate the effect of savings on rice yield.

Findings

The results of the study showed that most farmers mobilise savings to enhance farm investment which is critical to increasing rice productivity. Improved labour and fertiliser use had a positive influence on rice yield, while farm size had an inverse relation with rice yield. Further, the findings show that savings with RCBs help mobilise the necessary finance to enhance rice productivity. In terms of the treatment effect of savings, the results indicate that farmers who patronise saving products of RCBs recorded a statistically significant average yield of 1.41 Mt/ha more than those not patronising saving products from any bank.

Practical implications

While the literature on agricultural finance focuses largely on credit, this study demonstrates that savings hold significant benefits for the development of agriculture through productivity gains. The importance of this demonstration is further shown by the fact that credit access depends on the ability to save in most developing countries.

Social implications

There is a need to educate farmers about the essence of patronising formal savings products.

Originality/value

This study represents the first attempt at linking farmers' savings to agricultural productivity using an econometric methodology in Ghana. The study serves as a foundation paper and for that matter will serve as a guide to future research on savings mobilisation and agricultural productivity nexus.

Details

Agricultural Finance Review, vol. 82 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-1466

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 July 2019

Hannele Ahvenniemi and Tarja Häkkinen

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the potential levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) and cost savings from a set of households’ energy saving measures, considered as “everyday…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the potential levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) and cost savings from a set of households’ energy saving measures, considered as “everyday choices”.

Design/methodology/approach

Four areas of living were selected for the study: household electricity, space heating, transport and food consumption. The study used a quantitative research approach in which the impact of selected scenarios of an average Finnish household was assessed.

Findings

Findings suggest that GHG savings from behavioural change regarding household electricity remain marginal in comparison to savings gained from transportation related measures. Transportation also provides the most cost-efficient ways to decrease GHGs but not in all cases. Based on the results, the authors suggest that smart technologies, such as on-line, active feedback systems could have a major role in guiding household energy use. Also, given the high GHG savings from transport, the authors highlight the importance of providing infrastructure and services for clean mobility, and in designing well-functioning and compact cities enabling shorter travels.

Originality/value

The aim of our study was twofold – by analysing the case household’s choices, we obtained information on environmental and economic impacts, but in addition to this, the aim was to open discussion on the role of households in tackling climate change and how to support households in making sustainable choices. Although research regarding household energy behaviour is vast, so far very few studies have focused on both economic and environmental impacts of households’ everyday actions.

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2019

Neema Mori

Savings help to provide for future personal and households needs. The purpose of this paper examined Tanzanians’ determinants of saving. It studied the relationship between…

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Abstract

Purpose

Savings help to provide for future personal and households needs. The purpose of this paper examined Tanzanians’ determinants of saving. It studied the relationship between individual characteristics (gender, marital status, age, education level and financial education) and saving behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used 2017 national baseline survey data with 8,959 observations from all over Tanzania. Descriptive analysis and econometric models were used to test the developed hypotheses.

Findings

Descriptive results show that Tanzanians mainly associate saving with setting money aside to keep it safe for future use. The results also show that most Tanzanians keep their money at home – a very informal way of saving. The results indicate that age and education level are key characteristics that determine positive saving by Tanzanians.

Research limitations/implications

This study used FinScope survey data which was limited to Tanzania. Since FinScope surveys are done in other African countries, using similar methodologies, it would be interesting to investigate similar trends in other contexts.

Practical implications

The study recommends promoting awareness of saving in formal institutions. This will benefit not only customers but the financial institutions and mobile telecom companies themselves.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the life-cycle theory by showing how families, societies and exposures influence individuals to save. Gender and marital status seem to play a lesser role than social- and exposure-related aspects of age and education. Exposure and social interactions are key determinants in the attitude to saving.

Details

Review of Behavioral Finance, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1940-5979

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2014

Kent Eriksson and Cecilia Hermansson

– The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of bank advisor/customer relationships and customer saving behavior.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of bank advisor/customer relationships and customer saving behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is a theoretical review and model development of savings behavior and bank advisor/customer relationships. The review is used for the development of a model of bank advisor/customer relationships, and their effect on savings behavior.

Findings

Findings are a model that distinguishes three kinds of exchange (relational, interimistic, and transaction) in between bank advisor and customer. The three kinds of exchange then influence customer savings behavior.

Research limitations/implications

The implications of this research is that it points to that relationship marketing theory can be used in the analysis of how bank advisors influence customer savings behavior.

Practical implications

For regulators and financial services firms, these findings point to how the role of bank advisors for consumer savings behavior can be analyzed. This is important, as much policy work presumes that advisors influence customer savings behavior, but the knowledge base for that presumption needs to be better understood.

Social implications

The paper contributes toward a better understanding of the social exchange between bank employees and customers as regards savings products.

Originality/value

This paper is original because it includes many theoretical research fields, and because it connects the bank advisor and customer relationship with the customer's savings behavior.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2009

L. Dwayne Barney, Diane K. Schooley and Harry White

The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that savers may be substituting equity capital gains from stockholdings for traditional measures of personal saving. The…

1769

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that savers may be substituting equity capital gains from stockholdings for traditional measures of personal saving. The analysis also aims to investigate dividend yield (DY) as a signal to investors about corporate saving rates (CSRs).

Design/methodology/approach

Regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between personal saving and corporate saving. The personal saving rate (PSR) is the dependent variable while three measures of corporate saving (S&P500 corporate saving rate (SPSR), S&P500 DY and national income and product accounts (NIPA) CSR) alternatively serve as the independent variable.

Findings

The results confirm that personal saving is negatively related to corporate saving for large‐cap publicly traded firms. The study also finds a significant positive relationship between DY and PSR, offering support that DY provides an observable signal about corporate saving.

Research limitations/implications

The relationship between personal and CSRs is found to be robust through time. However, the downward spiral the US economy is experiencing today will provide unique and interesting data for examining the relationship in future studies.

Originality/value

This analysis differs from previous approaches by utilizing retained earnings, rather than stock market capital gains, to measure corporate saving, and provides new evidence that individuals substitute corporate saving for personal saving. The alarm expressed by the media and government over falling PSRs may not be warranted. Individuals appear to adjust personal rates to reflect the changes in corporate saving and reach the total saving rate that is optimal.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 35 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2021

Sarah Salahuddin, Muhammad Mehedi Masud and Kwek Kian Teng

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of remittance inflow on households’ savings behaviour in Bangladesh. Remittances are considered as the countercyclical flow of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of remittance inflow on households’ savings behaviour in Bangladesh. Remittances are considered as the countercyclical flow of income for its recipient economies. It surges the liquidity of the households receiving remittances, allows them to endure local economic shocks and facilitates them to practice productive activities. Remittances often form a big pool of resources for investment which complement the national savings and support the country’s growth through higher rates of capital accumulation. Therefore, if a significant portion of the remittance is used for savings it can lead to prominent economic growth in the long term.

Design/methodology/approach

Existing literature indicates remittance-receiving households have a greater propensity to use remittance income to meet basic consumption. However, based on the survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on remittances and household savings (SIR, 2016) and using the ordinary least square regression analysis method, to identify the connection between remittances and household’s saving (SIR, 2016) and using the ordinary least square regression analysis method, to identify the connection between remittances and household’s savings behaviour in Bangladesh.

Findings

The findings of this study represent remittances encourage households to pursue different kinds of savings in Bangladesh. Savings are made in the form of opening savings accounts, deposit pension scheme/fixed deposits/Bonds, insurance policies, also savings through non-governmental organizations, cooperative societies and savings at home. Other than remittances the demographic characteristics of the household head also influence the savings choices.

Originality/value

To enable the implementation of appropriate policies to boost savings, analysis from both perspectives; the household and the national level, requires strong vigilance and surveillance.

Details

Society and Business Review, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5680

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 January 2023

Andi Irawan, Tri Nia Anjela, S.N. Melli Suryanty and Rahmi Yuristia

This study aims to verify the impact of the supply shock (fall in harvested output) and demand shock (fall in household income) due to the pandemic on the consumption of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to verify the impact of the supply shock (fall in harvested output) and demand shock (fall in household income) due to the pandemic on the consumption of necessities and household savings of tilapia's smallholder farmer.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers randomly chose 144 households as research samples using the proportional random sampling technique in Padang Jaya District, North Bengkulu Regency. Researchers collected data on household income, farm losses, household consumption for basic needs, labor demand, use of production inputs, the amount of output sold and saving both during and before the pandemic. The data were collected from the sample using a questionnaire prepared by the researchers. This study used a simultaneous equations system for arranging tilapia's smallholder farmer household economic model.

Findings

This study verified that the demand shock phenomenon makes households more severe than the supply shock phenomenon. The demand shock phenomenon made worse-off tilapia smallholder farmers because it caused their household savings to drop during the pandemic. The fall in savings will disrupt the stability of consumption of household necessities (health, food, education and clothing) in the future.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this study was providing empirical evidence about the impact of the demand and supply shock of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable entities in the Indonesian freshwater aquaculture industry, namely, smallholder farmer households of freshwater aquaculture fish.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0554.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 50 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 June 2017

Merike Kukk

The paper aims to investigate the impact of financial liabilities on households’ holdings of financial assets. The debt-to-income ratio of the household sector increased from 75…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to investigate the impact of financial liabilities on households’ holdings of financial assets. The debt-to-income ratio of the household sector increased from 75 per cent in 2000 to 99 per cent in 2010 in the euro area on average, and the rapid accumulation of household debt has induced the need to study how indebtedness affects the behaviour of households beyond their borrowing decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the first wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey from 2009-2010 covering euro area countries. The paper estimates a system of equations for households’ financial liabilities and assets, taking account of endogeneity and selection bias.

Findings

The results indicate that higher household liabilities are related to lower holdings of financial assets. The results are confirmed by a large number of robustness tests. The findings support the hypothesis that credit availability reduces precautionary savings as income shocks can be smoothed by borrowing, meaning fewer assets are held for self-insurance against consumption risk.

Practical implications

The results are obtained from a recession period when households faced aggregate shocks, whereas credit constraints were tighter than during good times. The implications of lower incentives to keep financial assets by indebted households is that they are actually more vulnerable to aggregate shocks, as they have fewer resources available when they are hit by a negative shock.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to investigate the effect of liabilities on financial assets using household level data. The paper takes a holistic view and models financial assets and liabilities jointly while controlling for endogeneity and selection bias.

Details

Studies in Economics and Finance, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1086-7376

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 April 2022

Robert Pollin

David Gordon was, at once, a highly creative economist with an enormous range of interests, while also uncompromising in maintaining rigorous research standards. He focused

Abstract

David Gordon was, at once, a highly creative economist with an enormous range of interests, while also uncompromising in maintaining rigorous research standards. He focused equally on hard-core academic research and pressing policy issues. He was also openly committed to the political left, with this commitment animating all his work. One distinctive feature of Gordon’s work was his keenness to dive into the most important topics engaging mainstream economists and to inject explicitly left political economy perspectives into these mainstream debates. This paper focuses on two important examples of Gordon’s contributions that examine front-and-center mainstream macroeconomics questions. The first is the relationship between aggregate saving and investment. The second is the development of the concept of the “natural rate of unemployment.” The evolution of mainstream research on these two questions played a critical role in overturning what had been, over the first two post-World War II decades, a prevailing Keynesian/social democratic consensus, at both the levels of analytic economics as well as economic policy. As the paper reviews, Gordon challenges the analytic findings and policy implications of these perspectives at their core. Gordon’s own basic premises and results are straightforward. He argues that, in fact, investment decisions, not saving rates, are the main driver of economic activity in capitalist economies and that operating capitalist economies at something akin to genuine full employment – that is, in the range of 2–3 percent official unemployment – is a realistic goal. As such, these papers by Gordon contribute significantly toward envisioning a post-neoliberal social structure of accumulation that is committed to the egalitarian principles that were central to Gordon’s life work.

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on David Gordon: American Radical Economist
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-990-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2021

Ebrahim Rezaei

This paper aims to disclose the savings behavior of Iran's economy in the context of demographic transition.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to disclose the savings behavior of Iran's economy in the context of demographic transition.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a version of Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans growth model, this paper benefits from a broad range of data and variables which are mainly taken from the Central Bank of Iran's database. The study uses actual and calculated data to produce analogous simulated data. The data cover the 1970–2015 period. This long period provides an opportunity to simulate more valid time series. It is worth noting that due to the severe economic sanctions imposed on the Iran's economy, particularly after 2017, some most recent data have been obliterated from the sample.

Findings

The results, stemming from the simulated model, hint that; firstly, the population variable is a notable determinant of the savings rate. Secondly, the effects of a slump in the population growth rate would attenuate the savings level significantly. Thirdly, other pragmatic steps could be taken to redress the fallout of the demographic changes.

Research limitations/implications

There are some limitations in providing broad data related to economic sectors in Iran. The savings data, for instance, are available as an aggregated time series, and if the authors had wide data of household level, they would have been able to build more detail-based model. Similar to this issue of lack of households’ income-based data, some measures such as high or low levels as well as detailed demographic data could be helpful in sophisticated household level resulting. In addition, the complex relationship between the government and social security (pension) funds, in terms of financing part of government's budget deficit by these funds, thwarts a typical researcher in using comprehensive and transparent government expenditure data in their research. In other words, the possible positive or negative role of the funds, as a related issue to the demographic changes, cannot simply be determined in the model. It might be possible after necessary corrections are carried out in the mentioned relations.

Originality/value

In fact, the problem statement in this paper is to discern how the population aging can impact the saving rates on the one hand, and to what extent its repercussion can be modified by the other theoretical-based determinants on the other. In fact, the underlying argument of the present research arises from the stylized facts concerning prognosticates of the future evolutions of the world's population. To that end, the study will use Iran's economic and demographic data.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 49 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 14000