Research Catalog

Title

Public policies and household saving / edited by James M. Poterba.

Publication

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Poterba, James M.

Description

xiv, 198 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

• The declining U.S. national saving rate has prompted economists and policymakers to ask, should the federal government encourage saving, and if so, through which policies? In order to better understand saving programs, this volume provides a systematic and detailed description of saving policies in the G-7 industrialized nations: the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
• Among the G-7 nations, household saving rates vary dramatically. The United States and United Kingdom show personal saving rates of less than 5 percent of disposable income. The rates in France and Germany are twice as much, and in Japan and Italy personal saving rates are over 15 percent of disposable income. The United States has tried to encourage saving through programs such as IRAs and 401(k) plans, while the Japanese government has recently curtailed saving incentives.
• The seven articles in this volume collect and analyze extensive data on government policies affecting saving in each of the G-7 countries. Each chapter focuses on one country and addresses a core set of topics: types of accumulated household saving and debt; tax policies toward capital income; saving in the form of public and private pensions, including Social Security and similar programs; saving programs that receive special tax treatment; and saving through insurance.
• This detailed summary of the saving incentives of the G-7 nations will be an invaluable reference for policymakers and academics interested in personal saving behavior.

Series Statement

National Bureau of Economic Research project report

Uniform Title

National Bureau of Economic Research project report.

Subjects

• Taxation
• Saving and investment > Government policy

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents

Introduction / James M. Poterba -- 1. Government Saving Incentives in the United States / James M. Poterba -- 2. Government Incentives and Household Saving in Canada / John B. Burbidge and James B. Davies -- 3. Taxation and Personal Saving Incentives in the United Kingdom / James Banks and Richard Blundell -- 4. Savings in Germany - Part 1: Incentives / Axel Borsch-Supan -- 5. Government Incentives and Household Saving in Italy / Tullio Jappelli and Marco Pagano -- 6. Public Policies and Household Saving in Japan / Takatoshi Ito and Yukinobu Kitamura -- 7. Public Policies and Household Saving in France / Denis Fougere.

ISBN

0226676188 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

93042088

OCLC

• 29429345
• ocm29429345

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries