IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/56.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The effects of interest rates on savings in developing countries

Author

Listed:
  • Balassa, Bela

Abstract

This paper provides evidence on the effects of interest rates on savings in developing countries. While the evidence is not conclusive, time-series estimates for individual countries as well as cross-section and time-series estimates for a number of countries point to the positive effects of interest rates on savings. At the same time, a variety of factors may have reduced the statistical significance of the estimates. The author points out that estimates of savings in developing countries are subject to considerable error. Also there are other errors associated with the measurement of interest rates and inflation rates, which are necessary to derive real interest rates. Finally, there is evidence that negative real interest rates bring a shift to gold, real estate, and consumer durables, which latter are included in savings as measured in national income statistics.

Suggested Citation

  • Balassa, Bela, 1989. "The effects of interest rates on savings in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 56, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:56
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1989/09/01/000009265_3960928070106/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan S. Blinder & Angus Deaton, 1985. "The Time Series Consumption Function Revisited," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 16(2), pages 465-521.
    2. Gylfason, Thorvaldur, 1981. "Interest Rates, Inflation, and the Aggregate Consumption Function," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(2), pages 233-245, May.
    3. Gonzales Arrieta, Gerardo M., 1988. "Interest rates, savings, and growth in LDCs: An assessment of recent empirical research," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 589-605, May.
    4. Boskin, Michael J, 1978. "Taxation, Saving, and the Rate of Interest," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(2), pages 3-27, April.
    5. repec:bla:ecorec:v:46:y:1970:i:114:p:243-49 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Fry, Maxwell J, 1978. "Money and Capital or Financial Deepening in Economic Development?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 10(4), pages 464-475, November.
    7. Mikesell, Raymond F & Zinser, James E, 1973. "The Nature of the Savings Function in Developing Countries: A Survey of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, March.
    8. Shapiro, Matthew D., 1984. "The permanent income hypothesis and the real interest rate : Some evidence from panel data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 93-100.
    9. Hansen, Lars Peter & Singleton, Kenneth J, 1983. "Stochastic Consumption, Risk Aversion, and the Temporal Behavior of Asset Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(2), pages 249-265, April.
    10. Fry, Maxwell J., 1980. "Saving, investment, growth and the cost of financial repression," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 317-327, April.
    11. Evans, Owen J, 1983. "Tax Policy, the Interest Elasticity of Saving, and Capital Accumulation: Numerical Analysis of Theoretical Models," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 398-410, June.
    12. Summers, Lawrence H, 1984. "The After-Tax Rate of Return Affects Private Savings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 249-253, May.
    13. Giovannini, Alberto, 1983. "The interest elasticity of savings in developing countries: The existing evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 11(7), pages 601-607, July.
    14. Lawrence H. Summers, 1982. "Tax Policy, the Rate of Return, and Savings," NBER Working Papers 0995, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Giovannini, Alberto, 1985. "Saving and the real interest rate in LDCs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 197-217, August.
    16. Cuddington, John T., 1987. "Capital flight ," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 382-388.
    17. Khatkhate, Deena R., 1988. "Assessing the impact of interest rates in less developed countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 577-588, May.
    18. Michael J. Boskin, 1978. "Taxation, Saving, and the Rate of Interest," NBER Chapters, in: Research in Taxation, pages 3-27, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alnaa, Samuel Erasmus & Matey, Juabin, 2024. "Financial Deepening in Ghana; Does Macroeconomics Matter," MPRA Paper 120974, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Apr 2024.
    2. Óscar Rodil-Marzábal & Vicente Menezes-Ferreira-Junior, 2016. "The Wealth Effect in the Eurozone," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 63(1), pages 87-112, March.
    3. Iqbal, Z. & James, M.J. & Pyatt, G., 2000. "Three gap analysis of structural adjustment in Pakistan," Other publications TiSEM 5e27cd96-ac5f-45b1-898d-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Iqbal, Zafar & James, Jeffrey & Pyatt, Graham, 2000. "Three-Gap Analysis of Structural Adjustment in Pakistan," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 117-138, January.
    5. Zafar Iqbal, 1993. "Institutional Variations in Saving Behaviour in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1293-1311.
    6. Gelb, Alan H., 1989. "Financial policies, growth, and efficiency," Policy Research Working Paper Series 202, The World Bank.
    7. Shirin Akter, 2018. "Do remittances and foreign aid augment the gross savings: Bangladesh, India and Philippines perspective?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(4), pages 449-463, December.
    8. Benjamin García Páez, 2021. "How Plausible the Predicted Superiority of Private Over Public Investment Still Stands, If Ever?," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(10), pages 1-87, September.
    9. Juthathip Jongwanich, 2010. "The determinants of household and private savings in Thailand," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(8), pages 965-976.
    10. Eun Jin Ryu & Aya Suzuki, 2021. "ROSCAS as Insurance: Comparing Formal and Informal Methods of Saving among the Unskilled Workers in the Ethiopian Cut‐Flower Industry," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 59(3), pages 243-274, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Douglas W. Elmendorf, "undated". "The Effect of Interest-Rate Changes on Household Saving and Consumption: A Survey," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1996-27, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 10 Dec 2019.
    2. Summers, Lawrence H, 1984. "The After-Tax Rate of Return Affects Private Savings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 249-253, May.
    3. Patrick Honohan, 1995. "The Impact of Financial and Fiscal Policies on Saving," Papers WP059, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    4. Nicholas Odhiambo, 2010. "Interest rate reforms, financial deepening and economic growth in Tanzania: a dynamic linkage," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 201-212.
    5. Martin Beznoska & Richard Ochmann, 2013. "The interest elasticity of household savings: a structural approach with German micro data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 371-399, August.
    6. Oludele A. Akinboade, 2000. "The relationship between financial deepening and economic growth in Tanzania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(7), pages 939-950.
    7. Moyo, Clement & Le Roux, Pierre, 2018. "Interest rate reforms and economic growth: the savings and investment channel," MPRA Paper 85297, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Liutang Gong & Heng-fu Zou, 2000. "Foreign Aid Reduces Domestic Capital Accumulation and Increases Foreign Borrowing: A Theoretical Analysis," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 1(1), pages 147-163, May.
    9. Casey B. Mulligan, 2002. "Capital, Interest, and Aggregate Intertemporal Substitution," NBER Working Papers 9373, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Gleizer, Daniel Luiz, 1991. "Saving and Real Interest Rates in Brazil," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 11(1), April.
    11. Hausman, Jerry A & Poterba, James M, 1987. "Household Behavior and the Tax Reform Act of 1986," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 101-119, Summer.
    12. Ndanshau, Michael O. A. & Kilindo, Ali A. L., 2012. "Interest Rates and Financial Savings in Tanzania: 1967 - 2010," MPRA Paper 44387, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jan 2013.
    13. Opoku, Richard Takyi & Ackah, Ishmael, 2015. "How responsive are private savings to changes in real interest rate in Ghana?," MPRA Paper 65040, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Aaron S. Edlin, 1993. "Is College Financial Aid Equitable and Efficient?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 143-158, Spring.
    15. Obstfeld, Maurice, 1998. "Foreign Resource Inflows, Saving, and Growth," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers 233618, University of California-Berkeley, Department of Economics.
    16. Kotlikoff, Laurence J, 1984. "Taxation and Savings: A Neoclassical Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1576-1629, December.
    17. Combey, Adama, 2016. "Private Consumption in The WAEMU Zone: Does Interest Rate Matter?," MPRA Paper 75426, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Koskela, Erkki & Virén, Matti, 1991. "Household saving, interest rates, inflation and taxation: some cross-country evidence," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 10/1991, Bank of Finland.
    19. Yaya Keho, 2011. "Long‐Run Determinants Of Savings Rates In Waemu Countries: An Empirical Assessment From Ardl Bounds Testing Approach," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 79(3), pages 312-329, September.
    20. Gelb, Alan H., 1989. "Financial policies, growth, and efficiency," Policy Research Working Paper Series 202, The World Bank.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:56. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.