Household savings and present bias among Chinese couples: A household bargaining approach

Abstract

Family savings is crucial to long‐term wellbeing for all members in a household, particularly in a Chinese context where costs of living increasingly shift from government to individuals. Savings are typically examined as a balance of financial behaviors and spending preferences; however, this study highlights how savings in a family context is also a function of relationship status. Drawing on intra‐household bargaining models, we analyze data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies to examine the extent to which men's and women's relative power in the household explain variation in savings levels across families. Our findings indicate that women's greater bargaining positions (e.g., income and assets) correspond with greater savings for the family. However, such bargaining power constitutes a net negative for family savings when women have both greater relational power and higher spending preferences. We suggest that family savings can and should be understood as an outcome of dynamic bargaining conditions in addition to income factors.

Autonomous and IoT‐driven intralogistics for Industry 4.0 warehouses: A thematic analysis of the literature

“…According to EMS, the gap between the skill demand and supply for expertise such as controls engineering, programmable logic controllers, agile software development, user experience design, and maintenance systems is more than 50% nationally 15 . Furthermore, women participation in the workforce and their bargaining positions need more attention (Chawla & Svec, 2023). In addition, modern warehouses are more vulnerable to cyber threats than ever because an interconnected digital ecosystem can provide hackers with a central access point to the whole system.…”

Gender dynamics and marital bargaining in the Global South

“…Gender dynamics between the husband and wife also impact the household's financial profile and other arrangements. Empirical evidence based on Ghana and China suggests that households are more likely to have a savings account and more savings when the wife has stronger bargaining power (Afoakwah et al., 2015; Chawla & Svec, 2023). As shown by an Indian study, wives' involvement in household decision‐making allows them to better realize their preferences in household investment (Augsburg et al., 2023).…”