Abstract

This study analyzes the effect of the number of brothers an individual has on that individual's household savings rate under the current underdeveloped household financial market in urban China. I show that having an additional brother reduces an individual's household savings rate by at least 5 percentage points. Brothers help households (1) by sharing risks, providing a source of informal borrowing, and (2) by sharing the cost of supporting parents. Sisters play a minor role in affecting a household's savings rate, mainly because of cultural norms. The decline in the average number of brothers in households induced by population policies explained at least one-third of the increased aggregate household savings rate in urban China.

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