Search results

This paper attempts to investigate the influence of psychological biases on saving decision-making of bank customers in Ghana.

It employs weighted least squares regression to test the effect of psychological biases on savings decisions of bank customers.

The findings show that all the nine psychological biases, namely mental accounting, availability, loss aversion, representativeness, anchoring, overconfidence, status quo, framing effect and disposition effect employed for the study have a significant influence on saving decision of bank customers. The results depict that psychological biases are entrenched in the saving pattern of bank customers in Ghana.

For policy purposes, the study recommends that bank customers need to enhance their knowledge of psychological biases in order to improve their gains from savings, and not to fall prey to these prejudices. The satisfied customer is a dependable source of bank viability and survival.

To the best of the knowledge of the author, this study provides the first empirical evidence of the influence of psychological biases on saving decisions of bank customers in Ghana. The findings of this study will enhance knowledge on the influence of psychological biases on individual decision-making and will accentuate the fact that the individual is not an entirely rational being.

This paper presents a model of government saving in order to examine several questions regarding the personal and professional saving preferences or inclinations of a national sample of local government finance managers. First, is personal propensity to save related to a preference for local government saving? Second, is personal propensity to spend related to the finance managers' opinions about their local government's spending? Third, what are the determinants of finance managers' propensity to save or spend, both personally and for their local government? Results confirm that finance managers have a personal propensity to save and a positive view toward local government saving. The opposite, propensity to spend, is also influenced by personal preference. Determinants of these behaviors are explored.

This study aims to focus on the possibility of promoting saving behaviors in children by activating a future time perspective (TP) in their thinking.

An experimental study of 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 212) was conducted in which future and present hedonistic TPs were induced.

The results suggest that inducing a future TP can modify children’s financial behavior, making them more inclined to save their money. However, the induction of a present hedonistic TP had no significant effect on children’s financial decisions.

This study improves current theoretical knowledge concerning the effectiveness of psychological interventions in fostering saving behaviors in children and answers the question posed of how the economically desirable behavior of saving may be enhanced in children. Thus, inducing a future TP in children by showing them the benefits of focusing on the future might constitute a useful means of strengthening children’s saving abilities.

In order to encourage the high-water-consumption (HWC) manufacturers to carry out water-saving transformation relying on self-strength or outsourcing to a water-saving service company (WSSC) during production processes, government subsidies are provided according to water-saving efforts (WSE) or investment cost. In this context, the authors derive the participant's equilibrium decisions and the manufacturer's water-saving strategy. Additionally, the effects of subsidies on WSE and stakeholders' profits are discussed.

Mathematical models including optimization model and Stackelberg game model are constructed under different subsidy schemes.

The study finds that (1) there exists a threshold related to the subsidy coefficient for the HWC manufacturer when choosing between self-saving and outsourcing-saving. (2) When the technological competitive advantage between WSSC and manufacturer is within a certain range, government's subsidy promotes HWC enterprises to choose outsourcing-saving. (3) Given a water-saving mode, subsidy on investment cost is more effective for the government to achieve more environmental performance.

First, subsidy endogeneity can be considered to explore the optimal interval for government subsidies to maximize social welfare. Second, in outsourcing-saving, other types of contract can be discussed. Another extension is about model uncertainties. Finally, other policies on improving water efficiency can be also examined.

The paper includes implication for HWC manufacturers to select the best water-saving mode under subsidy, and it allows policymakers to understand the efficiency of proposed subsidies.

Decisions on water-saving efforts, selection of water-saving modes and operational planning are also regarded as business strategies in the paper. Particularly, the influences of different government subsidies are also considered and compared.

The escalating levels of greenhouse gas emissions have become a growing global concern, with household energy consumption emerging as a significant contributor. To develop effective public policies, it is crucial to understand the energy-saving behavior of households. This study delves into the determinants of energy-saving practices in a developing country.

The authors chose a multivariate probit model, as it allowed to look after possible correlations among seven energy-saving practices within households.

The findings underscore the significant influence of sociodemographic variables, such as gender, civil status, income and education, on energy-saving practices. Furthermore, the authors discovered that households where the head actively volunteers in social organizations are more likely to adopt energy-saving behaviors. Additionally, internet access positively contributes to pro-environmental behavior. This research reveals that certain energy-saving practices are interconnected, acting as complements or substitutes.

Recommendations for public policy include prioritizing education in rural areas to boost energy-saving practices, improving internet access in nonurban regions and promoting citizen involvement in social organizations to enhance environmental awareness and encourage energy-saving behavior. The authors contribute to literature evidencing that certain energy-saving practices are not independent of each other, they are rather complementary and, in some cases, substitutes.

Recommendations for public policy include prioritizing education in rural areas to boost energy-saving practices, improving Internet access in nonurban regions and promoting citizen involvement in social organizations to enhance environmental awareness and encourage energy-saving behavior.

Previous studies have overlooked these interdependencies, highlighting the necessity of a system of equations to yield more efficient estimates by considering correlations between error terms.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

This paper aims to study long-term savings accumulation in the UK. The authors use cross-sectional information from the extensive data set of the Family Resources Survey to compare long-term saving amongst different ethnic groups with the control group, the native population. The paper reflects on whether different groups are more likely to suffer poverty in retirement.

In this analysis, the authors apply the life-cycle framework to explain saving profiles. This theoretical model has been used extensively in the field of economics and can be applied to empirical studies to examine changes in income and saving patterns over the life-course. The framework contends that individuals make savings decisions to smooth consumption over different phases of their life-cycle.

The findings indicate that socio-economic factors are key elements in determining whether individuals plan for retirement if factors are controlled for the differences in saving behaviours between ethnic minorities and the control population decrease considerably. Asian women, with good education and social standing, display greater saving rates than the control group, while the socio-economic disadvantage suffered especially by Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is key to their inability to save long-term. High levels of poverty in retirement are more likely to be caused by the interaction of low levels of education, part-time work and long spells of unemployment than by ethnicity.

The important contribution to the debate on savings by ethnic minorities is the extension of the life-cycle model to specific sections of the population and to proffer new insights into their saving/dis-saving patterns and ultimately their welfare in retirement.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between religiosity level and reasons for saving money in Islamic microfinance institutions [Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT)] in Surakarta and Sukoharjo, Indonesia.

A chi-square test was used to identify the relationship between religiosity level and saving decisions in BMTs. In addition, the authors tested religiosity level and the reasons for transactions in both BMTs and conventional banking. Data were collected via a questionnaire. A total of 523 respondents from Surakarta and Sukoharjo, Indonesia, participated in the survey. The respondents are customers of 31 BMTs in Surakarta and Sukoharjo.

The authors find a significant relationship between one’s religiosity and the reason for saving money in BMTs. Products that are in accordance with Islamic principles form the highest reason for saving money in BMTs, followed by quality of service, recommendation from friends and location. In addition, purpose of business is the main reason for transactions in both BMTs and conventional banking. However, there is no significant relationship between religiosity level and the decision to transact in both BMTs and conventional banking.

There is a lack of literature discussing Islamic microfinance institutions, especially in Indonesia. Furthermore, BMT customers have different characteristics compared with those of large banks.

We explore the predictive capacity of short-horizon time preference decisions for long-horizon investment decisions. We use experimental evidence from a sample of Canadian working poor. Each subject made a set of decisions trading off present and future amounts of money. Decisions involved both short and long time horizons, with stakes ranging up to 600 dollars. Short horizon preference decisions do well in predicting the long-horizon investment decisions. These short horizon questions are much less expensive to administer but yield much higher estimated discount rates. We find no evidence that the present-biased preference measures generated from the short-horizon time preference decisions indicate any bias in long-term investment decisions. We also show that individuals are heterogeneous with respect to discount rates generated by short-horizon time preference decisions and long-horizon time preference decisions.

This paper aims to investigate whether individuals’ planning horizon influences their decision to save privately for their retirement.

Focussing on Spain, this empirical research uses the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)[1]. Logit models are estimated considering variables related to demographic characteristics, economic situation, education and cognitive abilities and psychological and social factors.

The results confirm that the planning horizon significantly influences the decision to save for retirement. Long-term planners are more likely to save for retirement than short-term planners.

Although previous literature has identified the planning horizon as a relevant variable in the decision to save for retirement, few empirical studies have evaluated their impact. This paper shows that it is important to develop habits of financial planning in societies, especially in societies with a prominent orientation towards the present.