Buffer stock savings by portfolio adjustment: evidence from rural India
利用印度农村家庭1976-1983和2009-2012的月度面板数据，研究发现家庭通过调整作物库存、货币和资本资产而非牲畜来缓冲临时收入冲击，且资产多样化对平滑消费很重要。
Abstract The empirical literature on household savings tends to treat savings simply as the residual of income minus consumption. This article takes a unique approach to reconstruct the cash and asset balances using detailed household transaction data on farm households in rural India and generates monthly and seasonal ICRISAT panel data for the period 1976–1983. We have found that households—irrespective of their landholding status—cope with temporary shocks quite well by using crop inventory, currency, and capital assets, rather than livestock, as buffer assets. The importance of portfolio adjustments in smoothing consumption is also confirmed by the use of a system of equations in which both portfolio and production decisions are made endogenous. It is concluded that not only the level but also the diversification of household assets are important for buffering consumption. As an extension, we have explored the monthly ICRISAT panel data for the period 2009–2012 in the same villages and have found a similar pattern in household portfolio responses to income shocks.