TY - JOUR
T1 - The pattern of household savings during a hyperinflation
T2 - The case of urban China in the late 1980s
AU - Aaberge, Rolf
AU - Zhu, Yu
PY - 2001/6
Y1 - 2001/6
N2 - This paper presents evidence on household savings in urban regions of the Chinese provinces Sichuan and Liaoning, based on data from the State Statistical Bureau's Urban Household Survey for the late 1980s. In this period the Chinese economy was subject to extensive reforms that resulted in rapid economic growth followed by extremely high inflation. The high inflation rates gave the households strong motives to switch from financial savings to purchase of consumer durables, which also appear to be consistent with the structure of the observed data. By providing empirical evidence on the relative importance of savings by lower, middle and upper income groups for single-child families and for all households, this study also discusses whether savings decisions depend on the level of household income. Single-child families are focused, not only because of their growing dominance in the current Chinese society, but also to control for the effect of demographic disparities.
AB - This paper presents evidence on household savings in urban regions of the Chinese provinces Sichuan and Liaoning, based on data from the State Statistical Bureau's Urban Household Survey for the late 1980s. In this period the Chinese economy was subject to extensive reforms that resulted in rapid economic growth followed by extremely high inflation. The high inflation rates gave the households strong motives to switch from financial savings to purchase of consumer durables, which also appear to be consistent with the structure of the observed data. By providing empirical evidence on the relative importance of savings by lower, middle and upper income groups for single-child families and for all households, this study also discusses whether savings decisions depend on the level of household income. Single-child families are focused, not only because of their growing dominance in the current Chinese society, but also to control for the effect of demographic disparities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035640431&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1475-4991.00011
DO - 10.1111/1475-4991.00011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035640431
VL - 47
SP - 181
EP - 202
JO - Review of Income and Wealth
JF - Review of Income and Wealth
SN - 0034-6586
IS - 2
ER -