Household Saving Behaviour and Credit Constraints in the Euro Area

33 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2015

See all articles by Julia Le Blanc

Julia Le Blanc

Joint Research Centre, Italy

Alessandro Porpiglia

Banque Centrale du Luxembourg

Federica Teppa

De Nederlandsche Bank

Junyi Zhu

Deutsche Bundesbank

Michael Ziegelmeyer

Banque centrale du Luxembourg; Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy

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Date Written: June 22, 2015

Abstract

We study the role of household saving behaviour, of individual motives for saving and that of perceived liquidity constraints in 15 Euro Area countries. The empirical analysis is based on the Household Finance and Consumption Survey, a new harmonized data set collecting detailed information on wealth holdings, consumption and income at the household level. Since the data is from 2010-2011, strong conclusions as regards the present are difficult to draw. This is because the crisis may have affected the data, especially in countries that were severely hit. Nevertheless we find evidence of some degree of homogeneity across countries with respect to saving preferences and the relative importance of different motives for saving. In addition, credit constraints are more heterogeneous across geographic regions and perceived to be binding for specific groups of respondents. Households living in Mediterranean countries report to be more subject to binding liquidity constraints than households living in Continental Europe. Household characteristics and institutional macroeconomic variables are significant and economically important determinants of household saving preferences and credit constraints.

Keywords: Household Finance and Consumption; life cycle saving; survey data

JEL Classification: C8, D12, D14, D91

Suggested Citation

Le Blanc, Julia and Porpiglia, Alessandro and Teppa, Federica and Zhu, Junyi and Ziegelmeyer, Michael Heinrich, Household Saving Behaviour and Credit Constraints in the Euro Area (June 22, 2015). ECB Working Paper No. 1790, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2621479 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2621479

Julia Le Blanc

Joint Research Centre, Italy ( email )

Via E. Fermi 1
I-21020 Ispra (VA)
United States

Alessandro Porpiglia

Banque Centrale du Luxembourg ( email )

2, boulevard Royal
Luxembourg, L-2983
Luxembourg

Federica Teppa (Contact Author)

De Nederlandsche Bank ( email )

PO Box 98
1000 AB Amsterdam
Amsterdam, 1000 AB
Netherlands

Junyi Zhu

Deutsche Bundesbank ( email )

Wilhelm-Epstein-Str. 14
Frankfurt/Main, 60431
Germany

Michael Heinrich Ziegelmeyer

Banque centrale du Luxembourg ( email )

2, boulevard Royal
Luxembourg, L-2983
Luxembourg

Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy ( email )

Amalienstraße 33
München, 80799
Germany

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