REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN PERSONAL SAVINGS

Regional data on consumers' expenditure and disposable income are analysed using a conventional error-correction specification, in an attempt to explain regional disparities in the average propensity to save. Pooling time-series and cross-section data the model is quite successful, though some degree of remaining ignorance is reflected in a few significant regional dummy variables arising out of the covariance model. Among the important determinants of saving and consumption are regional unemployment and housing wealth; the latter gives limited support to the proposition that burgeoning house prices in the South East may be fuelling a consumption and import boom. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.