Heterogeneity in Time Preferences and the Level of Savings, Debt and Investment: a Country Level Analysis

Paweł Niszczota

Abstract


The purpose of the study is to test whether the existence of differences in mean time preferences between countries is a significant determinant of the level of savings, indebtedness, and the size of capital markets across countries. Results show only limited support for the link between time preference and the propensity to save. The paper contains a discussion on the possible reasons for the general lack of support for the hypothesized effects of cross-country time preference heterogeneity.


Keywords


intertemporal choices; saving behaviour; capital marke

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/h.2015.49.4.425
Date of publication: 2016-01-28 11:03:43
Date of submission: 2015-06-22 11:41:01


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