Heterogeneity in Time Preferences and the Level of Savings, Debt and Investment: a Country Level Analysis

Paweł Niszczota

Abstract


The purpose of the study is to test whether the existence of differences in mean time preferences between countries is a significant determinant of the level of savings, indebtedness, and the size of capital markets across countries. Results show only limited support for the link between time preference and the propensity to save. The paper contains a discussion on the possible reasons for the general lack of support for the hypothesized effects of cross-country time preference heterogeneity.


Keywords


intertemporal choices; saving behaviour; capital marke

Full Text:

PDF (Język Polski)

References


Ainslie G., Specious Reward: a Behavioral Theory of Impulsiveness and Impulse Control, “Psychological Bulletin” 1975, Vol. 82, No. 4.

Angeletos G.-M., Laibson D., Repetto A., Tobacman J., Weinberg S., The Hyperbolic Consumption Model: Calibration, Simulation, and Empirical Evaluation, “Journal of Economic Perspectives” 2001, Vol. 15, No. 3.

Becker G.S., Mulligan C.B., The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference, “The Quarterly Journal of Economics” 1997, Vol. 112, No. 3.

Chabris C.F., Laibson D., Morris C.L., Schuldt J.P., Taubinsky D., Individual Laboratory-Measured Discount Rates Predict Field Behavior, “Journal of Risk and Uncertainty” 2008, Vol. 37, No. 2–3.

Frederick S., Loewenstein G., O’Donoghue T., Time Discounting and Time Preference: a Critical Review, “Journal of Economic Literature” 2002, Vol. 40, No. 2.

Hofstede G.H., Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, SAGE, Thousand Oaks 2001.

ING, ING International Survey: Savings 2015, www.ezonomics.com/ing_international_survey/savings_2015 [data dostępu: 06.07.2015].

Komlos J., Smith P.K., Bogin B., Obesity and the Rate of Time Preference: is There a Connection?, “Journal of Biosocial Science” 2004, Vol. 36, No. 2.

Laibson D., Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting, “The Quarterly Journal of Economics” 1997, Vol. 112, No. 2.

Loewenstein G., Prelec D., Anomalies in Intertemporal Choice: Evidence and an Interpretation, “The Quarterly Journal of Economics” 1992, Vol. 107, No. 2.

MacKinnon J.G., White H., Some Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimators with Improved Finite Sample Properties, “Journal of Econometrics” 1985, Vol. 29, No. 3.

Meier S., Sprenger C., Present-Biased Preferences and Credit Card Borrowing, “American Economic Journal: Applied Economics” 2010, Vol. 2, No. 1.

OECD, Household Debt, 2012a, www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/household-debt/indicator/english_f03b6469-en [data dostępu: 06.07.2015].

OECD, Household Savings, 2012b, www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/household-savings/indicator/english_cfc6f499-en [data dostępu: 06.07.2015].

Rieger M.O., Hens T., Wang M., International Evidence on the Equity Premium Puzzle and Time Discounting, “Multinational Finace Journal” 2013, Vol. 17, No. 3/4.

Samuelson P.A., A Note on Measurement of Utility, “The Review of Economic Studies” 1937, Vol. 4, No. 2.

Strotz R.H., Myopia and Inconsistency in Dynamic Utility Maximization, “The Review of Economic Studies” 1955, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Thaler R., Some Empirical Evidence on Dynamic Inconsistency, “Economics Letters” 1981, Vol. 8, No. 3.

Urminsky O., Zauberman G., The Psychology of Intertemporal Preferences, [w:] G. Wu, G. Keren (eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015.

Wang M., Rieger M.O., Hens T., How Time Preferences Differ: Evidence from 45 Countries, “NHH Discussion” 2011, No. 18.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/h.2015.49.4.425
Date of publication: 2016-01-28 11:03:43
Date of submission: 2015-06-22 11:41:01


Statistics


Total abstract view - 932
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF (Język Polski) - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2016 Paweł Niszczota

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.