The role of personal and cultural values on saving behavior: a cross-national analysis

Abstract

Purpose This study investigates the relationship between human values and saving behavior, focusing on both personal and cultural values. Design/methodology/approach The research utilizes data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey (2017–2020) covering 67,278 respondents across 48 countries and the Hofstede Insights (2024). The study employs principal component analysis to validate the measurement of personal values and multilevel logit regression to explore the associations between personal (individual level) and cultural (country level) values and saving behavior. Findings The findings, grounded in the functional theory of values, indicate that individuals with personal values oriented toward individual goals and survival needs are more likely to save money, whereas those with values centered on social orientation and thriving needs are less inclined to save. On a cultural level, individualistic societies tend to save more, while countries with high levels of uncertainty avoidance are associated with lower saving behavior. Practical implications This study provides further evidence that human values are important components of household savings behavior. Policymakers and stakeholders interested in fostering saving behavior should be aware of the role played by personal and cultural values when designing impactful policies and interventions. This process might involve encouraging survival traits and reducing economic uncertainty. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive analysis of how personal and cultural values shape saving behavior across different societies. It contributes to the literature by highlighting the interplay between individual and societal factors in financial decision-making.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 11 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.