Formal and Informal Savings Habits and Income Levels: A Case Study in Mexico

Abstract

Saving represents one of the most important determinants of personal success and economic development. However, in developing economies, opportunities for structured and institutionalized savings are rare. The intention of the study is to generate evidence on the type of relationship existing between income levels and formal and informal saving habits of a group of people from three different cities in Mexico. From a non-probabilistic convenience sampling, the data of 260 participants were obtained. A logit model was estimated. The results show that there is a positive relationship between higher income levels and formal saving habits and an inverse relationship between higher income levels and informal saving practices. Although the size of the sample does not allow conclusions to be drawn to the level of generalization, it has allowed the generation of evidence that in future studies can be contrasted with a larger sample.