Essays on the determinants of vietnamese household saving rates

ESSAYS ON THE DETERMINANTS OF VIETNAMESE HOUSEHOLD SAVING RATES Hua Thanh Xuan Supervisors: Professor Guido Erreygers Professor Roselinde Kessels Professor Luca Paolo Merlino ISBN 9789057287091 (Deposit number: D/2021/12.293/30) Abstract Household saving plays a crucial role in the economic growth and social development of a country Especially in poor and developing countries, household savings are an important financial source for families to overcome difficulties, reduce poverty, stimulate wealth creation, and increase their quality of life Calculated as household savings divided by household income, the household saving rate shows us how much households can save compared with their income In this dissertation, we use the dataset VHLSS 2010 and 2012 to investigate the determinants of household saving rates in Vietnam, a developing country in South East Asia In Chapter we set the scene: we review influential saving theories and provide a general overview of the Vietnamese economy The following chapters are devoted to empirical analysis In Chapter we apply conditional quantile regression to determine the effect of household characteristics on household saving rates We find evidence that household and household head characteristics have significant effects on family saving rates Particularly, the marginal propensity to save of households at the low quantiles is higher than that of those at the high quantiles Since household characteristics and household saving rates between urban and rural families tend to be different in Vietnam, we examine in Chapter 3, using unconditional quantile regression, whether these differences in household characteristics between the two areas can help explain why urban households save more than rural families We find that the urban-rural saving rate differences are low at the high quantiles In addition, the higher income and smaller size of urban households allows them to save more compared with rural families In contrast, the differences in ethnic structure and education between the two areas tend to reduce the urban-rural saving rate difference Finally, in Chapter we examine the influence of remittances on saving and consumption behaviour by using the technique of propensity score matching We observe that remittances have a positive impact on household savings by increasing both saving rates and saving amounts v ... determine the effect of household characteristics on household saving rates We find evidence that household and household head characteristics have significant effects on family saving rates Particularly,... creation, and increase their quality of life Calculated as household savings divided by household income, the household saving rate shows us how much households can save compared with their income... education between the two areas tend to reduce the urban-rural saving rate difference Finally, in Chapter we examine the influence of remittances on saving and consumption behaviour by using the