The Competitive Saving Motive: Concept, Evidence, and Implications

Publication | November 2015
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This short essay surveys recent literature on the competitive saving motive and its broader economic implications.

We introduce the concept of competitive saving, i.e., saving to improve one’s status relative to other competitors for dating and marriage partners, and provide evidence of its existence across and within countries.  We argue that sex ratio imbalances have driven the competitive saving motive, and have partly accounted for sustained high savings rates in many Asian economies. 

Additional Details

Authors
Type
Series
Subjects
  • Economics
Countries
  • China, People's Republic of
SKU
  • WPS157771-2
ISSN
  • 2313-6537 (Print)
  • 2313-6545 (e-ISSN)

Published Version

Wei, Shang-Jin and Xiaobo Zhang. 2016. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Concept, Evidence, and Implications." Frontiers of Economics in China 11 (3): 355–66. https://academic.hep.com.cn/fec/EN/10.3868/s060-005-016-0020-2.

Note: ADB recognizes "China" as the People's Republic of China.

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