Chris Blattman

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Do boys explain high savings in China?

There are approximately 122 boys born for every 100 girls today, a ratio that means about one in five Chinese men will be cut out of the marriage market when this generation of children grows up.

…Our study compared savings data across regions and in households with sons versus those with daughters. We found that not only did households with sons save more than households with daughters on average, but that households with sons tend to raise their savings rate if they also happen to live in a region with a more skewed gender ratio. Even those not competing in the marriage market must compete to buy housing and make other significant purchases, pushing up the savings rate for all households.

That is Shang-Jin Wei writing in VoxEU.

One Response

  1. High savings are explained by the lack of a mandatory pension and health care system. You have to save unless you want to die when you get sick or old. Simple as that.

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