scholarly journals Frugality Is Hard to Afford

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Yeşim Orhun ◽  
Mike Palazzolo

Intertemporal savings strategies, such as bulk buying or accelerating purchase timing to take advantage of a good deal, provide long-term savings in exchange for an increase in immediate spending. Although households with limited financial resources stand to benefit the most from these strategies, they are less likely to make use of them. The authors provide causal evidence that liquidity constraints impede low-income households’ ability to use these strategies, above and beyond the impact of other constraints. Exploiting recurring variation in household liquidity, this study shows that when low-income households have more liquidity, they partially catch up to higher-income households’ ability to use intertemporal savings strategies. The findings provide guidance to marketing managers and researchers regarding targeted promotional design and measurement of deal-proneness. For policy makers, they suggest a new path for decreasing the higher prices low-income households have been documented to pay for everyday goods. Policies have traditionally focused on increasing financial literacy or access to supermarkets. Our work suggests that providing greater liquidity can help low-income households make better use of savings opportunities already available to them.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1001-1008
Author(s):  
Hina Affandi ◽  
Qaisar Ali Malik

Purpose: Financial institutions engage in performing imperative part in the economic development of an economy through circulation of funds that resulting in employment and fair distribution of limited resources. Financial literacy results in usage of financial product and services provided by financial institutions that lead to pervasive growth of an economy. Financial inclusion takes into loop the excluded segment of a developing country to attain the desired financial and economic outcomes. Recognizing the importance of financial inclusion, this study is executed to investigate the impact of financial literacy on financial inclusion in street vendors. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted in twin cities Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Snowball and purposive sampling technique has been used in this study. Primary data has been collected from street vendors through semi structure interviews and questionnaire. Participatory action research design is used in this study. Deductive approach has been used for qualitative data analysis. Findings: The results of this study found that street vendors only name financial institutions. They don’t have knowledge about financial products and services provided by those financial institutions. Because of inadequate knowledge, majority of the street vendors do not use financial products and services which are available to them. A very small number of street vendors are using financial products and services. The expected outcomes of this study set a direction for policy makers of financial institutions about how to increase financial inclusion by considering the observed relations in this study. Practical implications: The results will help policy makers in formulating effective strategies to bring into the net that excluded segment, which if included will not only improve their quality of life but also augment to the sustainability and growth of economy through financial inclusion. Originality/value: As suggested by the recent relevant literature, the study is an attempt to identify those antecedents of financial inclusion, which has not been explored earlier in context of Pakistan, to extend the earlier findings through qualitative research method and to establish how financial inclusion can be made a success in achieving its desired outcomes in a developing economy.


Author(s):  
Geoffrey Meen ◽  
Christine Whitehead

Affordability is, perhaps, the greatest housing problem facing households today, both in the UK and internationally. Even though most households are now well housed, hardship is disproportionately concentrated among low-income and younger households. Our failure to deal with their problems is what makes housing so frustrating. But, to improve outcomes, we have to understand the complex economic and political forces which underlie their continued prevalence. There are no costless solutions, but there are new policy directions that can be explored in addition to those that have dominated in recent years. The first, analytic, part of the book considers the factors that determine house prices and rents, household formation and tenure, housing construction and the roles played by housing finance and taxation. The second part turns to examine the impact of past policy and the possibilities for improvement - discussing supply and the impact of planning regulation, supply subsidies, subsidies to low-income tenants and attempts to increase home ownership. Rather than advocating a particular set of policies, the aim is to consider the balance of policies; the constraints under which housing policy operates; what can realistically be achieved; the structural changes that would need to occur; and the significant sacrifices that would have to be made by some groups if there are to be improvements for others. Our emphasis is on the UK but throughout the book we also draw on international experience and our conclusions have relevance to analysts and policy makers across the developed world.


10.1596/35260 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonyoung Cho ◽  
Jorge Avalos ◽  
Yasuhiro Kawasoe ◽  
Douglas Johnson ◽  
Ruth Rodriguez

Author(s):  
Joaquim Barreto ◽  
Luís Carlos V. Matos ◽  
José Carlos Quinaglia ◽  
Andrei C. Sposito ◽  
Luiz Sergio Carvalho

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 1706-1717
Author(s):  
Krisada Sungkhamanee, Piyadhida Sungkhamanee

Investment decisions have great importance in different sectors of various countries and these decisions are the basis on which the outcomes of the investments are based. However, there might be certain factors that might lead to the incorrect long term and short term investment decisions. In this regard, the current study has been conducted with the core motive to explore the impact casted by the environment and potential factors i.e. salience and overconfidence on the long term investment decisions for accommodation business along with the moderation of a variable i.e. financial literacy. To fulfill this objective, the researcher has collected data from the investors of accommodation businesses in Thailand. The collected data has been subjected to different statistical techniques and tools for analysis purpose and the results have been obtained. The results obtained by the analysis of the collected data indicate that salience and overconfidence have significant impact on the long term investment decision. In addition, the moderating role of financial literacy has also been found as significant in the study. The results suggest that the investors of the accommodation business must consider the aspects of salience and overconfidence before taking any long term investment decision to avoid failure of the investment decision.    


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Tea Kasradze

Financial inclusion is often considered as an access to financial resources for the wide public and small and medium-sized businesses, although it is a much broader concept and includes a wide range of access to quality financial products and services, including loans, deposit services, insurance, pensions and payment systems. Mechanisms for protecting the rights of consumers of financial products and services are also considered to be subject to financial inclusion. Financial inclusion acquires great importance during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. The economic crisis caused by the pandemic is particularly painful for low-income vulnerable population. A large part of the poor population who were working informally has lost source of income due to lockdown from the pandemic. Remittances have also been reduced / minimized, as the remitters had also lost jobs and are unable to send money home. Today, when people die from Coronavirus disease, it may be awkward to talk about the financial side of a pandemic, but the financial consequences can be far-reaching if steps are not taken today to ensure access to and inclusion of financial resources. The paper examines the impact of the pandemic on financial inclusion and the responses of the governments and the financial sectors to the challenge of ensuring the financial inclusion of the poor population and small and medium enterprises.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sanusi

This paper investigates the impact of bank-specific and macroeconomic variables on the profitability of Islamic rural bank (BPRS) in Indonesia. Using monthly time series data from January 2010 - December 2018. The estimation model used is a vector error correction model to analyze the long-term and short-term relationships between bank-specific and macroeconomic variables on the profitability of Islamic rural bank. The results showed that CAR and LnTA had a significant positive relationship, while NPF, BOPO and IPI had a negative and significant relationship to the profitability of Islamic rural banks. But FDR and Inflation variables are not significantly related to the profitability of Islamic rural bank. The results leave implications for policy makers, investors and banking sector managers. Based on evidence that bank profitability is more influenced by internal banks (as specific as banks), this research can help Islamic rural banks to help them understand which factors are important to be analyzed to obtain higher profitability.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia T. Anong ◽  
Aditi Routh

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between prepaid debit card use and the intention to open a bank account within twelve months. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Behavior Change helped to conceptualize one's stage in the process of changing from unbanked status if desired. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) provided a framework to examine factors that influence banking intention. Prepaid debit card use is considered a social norm as it is a popular alternative to banking, and these accounts have increasingly mimicked bank account features in recent years.Design/methodology/approachThree in-depth focus group interviews with low-income respondents were first conducted in 2012, which revealed a prolific use of prepaid debit cards. Most participants had previous banking history, and despite negative experiences, some requested information about banking terms and “free” banking. These themes and previous studies informed a TPB-based biprobit model, which was estimated using data of an unbanked sample from 2013, 2015 and 2017 waves of the US Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households.FindingsThough there was banking interest in the focus groups, no significant empirical association was found between recent prepaid debit card use and banking intention. Going deeper with another sample, we found that current cardholders were equally likely to have become recently banked or to be long-term unbanked but less likely to be long-term banked. Also, factors such as a more recent relationship with banks, use of other alternative financial services for transactions and credit, smartphone ownership, and trust increase banking intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of the study is the cross-section quantitative data. Future research may track banking status over time, particularly as financial technology (fintech) evolves with alternatives that may influence banks and customers to adapt.Practical implicationsTo compete with “leapfrog” fintech banking alternatives, bank managers should consider utilizing customer segmentation to target “at-risk” customers and former customers with products and terms tailored to meet their banking needs. Banks can also tailor digital products to capture markets in banking desserts through mobile phones.Originality/valueThis mixed-methods study is unique in that it builds on insights from earlier in-depth interviews with real unbanked groups to examine a trend in prepaid debit card use and the impact on banking interest.


Author(s):  
Pourya Valizadeh ◽  
Barry M Popkin ◽  
Shu Wen Ng

Abstract Background US individuals, particularly from low-income subpopulations, have very poor diet quality. Policies encouraging shifts from consuming unhealthy food towards healthy food consumption are needed. Objectives We simulate the differential impacts of a national sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax and its combination with fruit and vegetable (FV) subsidies targeted to low-income households, on SSB and FV purchases of lower and higher SSB purchasers. Design We considered a one-cent-per-ounce SSB tax and two FV subsidy rates of 30% and 50% and used longitudinal grocery purchase data for 79,044 urban/semiurban US households from 2010-2014 Nielsen Homescan. We used demand elasticities for lower and higher SSB purchasers, estimated via longitudinal quantile regression, to simulate policies’ differential effects. Results Higher-SSB purchasing households made larger reductions (per adult equivalent) in SSB purchases than lower SSB purchasers due to the tax (e.g., 4.4 oz/day at SSB purchase percentile 90 vs. 0.5 oz/day at percentile 25; p < 0.05). Our analyses by household income indicated low-income households would make larger reductions than higher-income households at all SSB purchase levels. Targeted FV subsidies induced similar, but nutritionally insignificant, increases in FV purchases of low-income households regardless of their SSB purchase levels. Subsidies, however, were effective in mitigating the tax burdens. All low-income households experienced a net financial gain when the tax was combined with a 50% FV subsidy, but net gains were smaller among higher SSB purchasers. Further, low-income households with children gained smaller net financial benefits than households without children and incurred net financial losses under a 30% subsidy rate. Conclusions SSB taxes can effectively reduce SSB consumption. FV subsidies would increase FV purchases, but nutritionally meaningful increases are limited due to low purchase levels pre-policy. Expanding taxes beyond SSBs, larger FV subsidies, or subsidies beyond FVs, particularly for low-income households with children, may be more effective.


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