Dilyara Kh. Ibragimova
The Savings Behavior of the Russian Population: Analysis of the Situation Before and After August 1998,
in: Ekonomicheskaja istorija. Ezhegodnik (Economic Hystory. Yearbook). 2001, Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2002, p.551-574.
Summary
The article reflects the results of research on the saving behavior of the Russian population, conducted in 1998-1999 by the "CSI-Russia" group. An analysis of the dynamics and structure of personal savings during the transition period was made on the basis of sociological monitoring of the savings behavior of the population and a macroeconomic analysis of statistical information. One of the main aspects of this research is studying the impact of the August 1998 crisis on the saving behavior of various groups of the population: shifts in their preferences for various forms of saving, as well as their motives for saving. The author suggests her own typology of the Russian population from this point of view, examining the question in a double cross-section - before and after the crisis. The results of a cluster-analysis show that about 40 percent of the respondents come from two groups designated as, on the one hand, the "surviving older generation", and on the other, "shareholders." The remaining part of the population was divided between the four middle groups, the types of saving attitudes and behavior of which are primarily determined by the income level. Changes in their material standing in the post-crisis period have led to a change in the priorities of saving purposes: the short-term and "just in case" motives were in the foreground.