EXPLORING SAVING BEHAVIOR OF TURKISH FAMILIES IN ANKARA/TURKEY

Year 2010, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 105 - 112, 01.12.2010

Zeynep Copur Michael S. Gutter Sibel Erkal

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to explore saving behavior of Turkish families in Ankara, Turkey. The research is composed of 600 people living in the neighborhood of Dr. Halil Ulgen Health Center (Mamak-Ankara-Turkey). Results indicated that the vast majority of Turkish families were not saving and not willing to take any financial risk. More than half of the participants did not discuss finance with their parents when they were growing up. Majority of the families reported that over the past year their family’s spending exceeded their income and the current economic situation significantly impacted more than half of the families’ saving behavior and attitudes. Most of the families indicated that their parents were savers while they were growing up. Interestingly, families who reported both parents were savers while they were growing up were less likely to be saving than those who reported neither were savers. As expected, having experience of negative financial events in the last two years was significantly related to the likelihood of saving

Keywords

financial behaviors, saving, negative financial events

References

• Ando, Albert and Franco Modigliani (1963, March), “The Life-Cycle Hypothesis of Saving:
• Aggregate Implications and Tests”, American Economic Review, Vol.53, No.1, pp. 55-84. Bozkus, Sezer and Senay Ucdogruk (2007), “Saving decision of households: The Turkish case”, 8.
• Türkiye Ekonometri ve İstatistik Kongresi, 24-25 Mayıs, Malatya. Celasun, Oya (1998), “The 1994 currency crisis in Turkey”, Networks Financial Institute Working
• Paper. Available at SSRN: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=615008 [Accessed 4. 2010]
• Cilasun, Seyit Mumin and Murat Gunay Kırdar (2009), “Türkiye’de hanehalklarının gelir, tüketim ve tasarruf davranışlarının yatay kesitlerle bir analizi”, Iktisat, Işletme ve Finans Dergisi. Vol. 24, No.280, pp. 9-46.
• Copur, Zeynep, and Gunsel R. Terzioglu (2000), “Ailelerin tasarruf ve yatırım egilimlerinin incelenmesi (Study of the saving and investment tendencies of the families)”, Ev Ekonomisi
• Dergisi (Home Economics Journal), Vol. 6, No.6, pp. 40-48. Copur, Zeynep, and Sukran Safak (2004), Ailelerin tasarruf egilimlerinin incelenmesi (Study of the saving tendencies of the families). Ekonomik ve Teknik Dergi Standard (Turkish Standards
• Institute Journal), Vol. 43, No.508, pp. 68-72. Copur Zeynep, Sukran Safak, Gunsel R. Terzioğlu and Richard Dodder (2010), “Perception of adequacy of resources with a Turkish sample”, Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 30, No.12, pp.1624
• Friedman, Milton (1957), A Theory of the Consumption Function. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton
• University Press for the National Bureau of the Economic Research. Horioka, Charles Yuji and Wako Watanabe (1997), “Why do people save? A micro-analysis of motives for household saving in Japan”, The Economic Journal, Vol. 107, No.442, pp. 537-552.
• Keynes, John Maynard (1936), The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. New
• York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. pp. 47-68
• Katona, George (1975), Psychological Economics. Amsterdam/New York: Elsevier.
• Lunt, Peter K. and Sonia M. Livingstone (1991), “Psychological, social and economic determinants of saving: Comparing recurrent and total savings”, Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 12, pp. 621-641.
• Muradoglu, Gulnur and Fatma Taskın (1996), “Differences in household savings behavior:
• Evidence from industrial and developing countries”, The Developing Economies, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 138-153. Ozcan Metin, Kıvılcım, Aslı Gunay and Seda Ertac (2003), “Determinants of private saving behavior in Turkey”, Applied Economics, Vol. 35, No.12, pp. 1405-1416.
• Rijckeghem Caroline Van and Murat Uçer (2009). The evolution and determinants of the Turkish
• Private Saving Rate. ERF Research Report Series No:09-01. Available from: http:// www.ku.edu.tr/ku/images/EAF/rr09-02.pdf. Schmidt-Hebbel, Klaus, Steven B. Webb and Giancarlo Corsetti (1992 Sept.), “Household saving in the developing countries: First cross-country evidence”, World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 529-547.