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Does population ageing affect savings in Europe?

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  • Pascual-Saez, Marta
  • Cantarero-Prieto, David
  • Pires Manso, José R.

Abstract

Ageing is going to be greater and greater in the forthcoming decades. At the same time, old-aged dependency and longevity occur due to rising life expectancy at birth. Our study aims to examine the effect of population ageing on private savings. A panel data of a sample of selected European countries collected from the World Bank (WB, 2016) – World Development Indicators (WDI) database is used, in order to analyze possible heterogeneity across and multiple subsamples. The span period is 1990–2013. Besides, economic growth and crisis provide empirical support. Our findings show that longevity and dependency rates have both significant impacts on savings. However, the results are influenced by the way in which the data is managed. Therefore, this calls into question the practice of applying for a reform in the government’s old-age support programs. Besides, the paper makes a good contribution to knowledge: firstly, it is innovative since it puts together demographic and economic variables among a selected group of developed countries; secondly, it uses a very up-to-dated database; and thirdly, it fills a gap in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Pascual-Saez, Marta & Cantarero-Prieto, David & Pires Manso, José R., 2020. "Does population ageing affect savings in Europe?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 291-306.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:42:y:2020:i:2:p:291-306
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2019.07.009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Md Jamil, Abd Rahim & Law, Siong Hook & Khair-Afham, M.S. & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2024. "Financial inclusion and income inequality in developing countries: The role of aging populations," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    3. Xie, Xiaohong & Osińska, Magdalena & Szczepaniak, Małgorzata, 2023. "Do young generations save for retirement? Ensuring financial security of Gen Z and Gen Y," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 644-668.
    4. van Tongeren, Jan W. & Bruil, Arjan, 2022. "Projections to 2025 of the household sector within the Dutch economy," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Population ageing; Longevity; Dependency; Savings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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