Factors of choosing the financial strategies of Russian households

Abstract

Subject. The article investigates factors of choosing the household’s financial strategies in modern Russian conditions. Objectives. The aim is to study the effect of material and socio-psychological characteristics of Russians on their propensity to form savings and attract loans. Methods. To analyze the factors of financial behavior of Russians, I use databases of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. The propensity to form savings and attract loans is estimated, using probit, ordinal probit, and tobit regression. The Big Five Personality Traits model is applied to consider psychological characteristics of the family head in financial decisions. Results. The estimates confirmed the provisions of the life cycle theory on changing the financial strategy (transition from borrowings when creating the material base of the household at the stage of its formation to savings to finance expenses at retirement age after repayment of home and car loans) as the age of the head of household changes. The precautionary motive effect (formation of financial reserves in anticipation of deteriorating the family's financial situation) was estimated as insignificant. Conclusions. The psychological characteristics of the family head influence the choice of financial strategy of Russians. Emotionally unstable Russians are not inclined to accept a debt burden, and those characterized by high openness to experience are more wasteful and do not tend to save. I revealed a decrease in the role of social networks in financing household cash gaps and an increase in the role of financial intermediaries in the implementation of financial strategies of Russians.