Chinese savings rate & the gender balance

Fascinating. A strong, explanatory correlation appears between very high household savings rates and the male-gender imbalance.

"…[E]conomists and policymakers have looked with concern to the large Chinese current account surplus and large US current account deficit, or global imbalances, much of their discussion has focused on changing exchange rate policy. None of the discussion about global imbalances has brought family-planning policy or women’s rights to the table, because many do not see these issues as related to economic policy. Our research suggests that this is a serious omission." Extract from The mystery of Chinese savings: Shang-Jin Wei

Shang-Jin's hypothesis? Savings reflect competition in a marriage market with a significant deficit of females. I'm impatient to see the published paper.

Tags for this entry: china macroeconomics demographics