Keywords
household saving
European countries
subjective determinants of household saving
How to Cite
Abstract
Household savings remain one of the key areas of economic research, particularly in view of the growing importance of subjective assessments of financial situations alongside traditional objective indicators. The aim of the study is to construct a simplified consumer confidence indicator and to evaluate its ability to explain differences in the household saving rate across EU countries. Eurostat data for the years 2000–2022 were used; principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to select the components, while the k-means method was used to classify countries. Out of the twelve components of the original Consumer Confidence Indicator (CCI), six variables most strongly associated with the first principal component were identified. The new indicator shows a high level of consistency with the original CCI (r = 0.70–0.93), and its relationship with the saving rate is moderately strong (r = 0.4–0.5). Combining objective and subjective measures of financial conditions allows for more accurate predictions of saving behavior than using either of these measures separately. The indicator may serve analytical institutions, central banks, and policymakers as a simple yet reliable alternative to the full CCI.
References
Amari, M., Salhi, B., Jarboui, A. (2020). Evaluating the effects of sociodemographic characteristics and financial education on saving behavior. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 40(11/12), 1423-1438. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2020-0048.
Banaszczak-Soroka, U., Pancer-Cybulska, E. (2021). COVID-19 and the size and composition of household savings in the European Union countries. European Research Studies Journal, 24(Special Issue 3). https://doi.org/10.35808/ersj/2537
Başarir, Y. (2022). The relationship between credit card expenditures, consumer confidence and consumers' saving tendencies. Uygulamalı ekonomi ve sosyal bilimler dergisi. https://doi.org/10.46959/jeess.1080739
Boyce, C. J., Brown, G. D., Moore, S. C. (2010). Money and happiness: Rank of income, not income, affects life satisfaction. Psychological science, 21(4), 471-475.
Clark, A. E., Kristensen, N., Westergård-Nielsen, N. (2008). Economic satisfaction and income rank in small neighbourhoods. Journal of the European Economic Association, 7(2-3), 519-527. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1298256
Dudek, H. (2013). Subiektywne postrzeganie sytuacji dochodowej – mikroekonometryczna analiza danych panelowych (Subjective percepcion of the income situation – a microeconometric anlysis of panel data). Roczniki Kolegium Analiz Ekonomicznych, 30, 119-233.
Ferrentino, R., Vota, L. (2023). The Nexus Between Household Consumption, Consumer Protection, and Consumer Confidence in European Countries. A Statistical-Mathematical Analysis. Panoeconomicus, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.2298/pan220825022f
Frątczak, E. [red.] (2009). Wielowymiarowa analiza statystyczna. Teoria i przykłady zastosowań z systemem SAS. Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie.
Głowicka-Wołoszyn R., Wołoszyn, A. (2014). Objective and subjective assessment of financial situation of households in Poland and organized tourism demand. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego. Ekonomiczne Problemy Turystyki, 1(25), 367-383.
Grzywińska-Rąpca M. (2021). Finanse gospodarstw domowych w świetle subiektywnych ocen sytuacji materialnej, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie, pp. 221.
Grzywińska-Rąpca M. (2021). Economic welfare and subjective assessments of financial situation of european households. European Research Studies Journal, 24(2), 948-968. https://doi.org/10.35808/ersj/2166
Grzywińska-Rąpca, M., Markowski, L. (2023). Analysing the financial landscape of European households: Insights from panel data. Journal of International Studies, 16(3), 2071-8330. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-3/2
Grzywińska-Rąpca, M. (2023). Differentiation of European households living rural areas including subjective assessments of their financial and economic situation – comparative analysis. Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists, 25(4), 106-119. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0053.9689
Grzywińska-Rąpca, M., Ptak-Chmielewska, A. (2023). Backward assessments or expectations: what determines the consumer confidence index more strongly? Panel model based on the CCI of European countries. Wiadomości Statystyczne. The Polish Statistician, 68(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.59139/ws.2023.02.1
Hampson, D. P., Ma, S., Wang, Y., Han, M. S. (2021). Consumer confidence and conspicuous consumption: A conservation of resources perspective. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(6), 1392-1409. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12661
Joo S. H., Grable, J. (2004). An exploratory framework of the determinants of financial satisfaction. Journal of Family and Economic, 25(1), 25-50. https://doi.org/10.1023/ B:JEEI.0000016722.37994.9f.
Juhro, S. M., Iyke, B. N. (2020). Consumer confidence and consumption expenditure in Indonesia. Economic Modelling, Vol. 89, 367–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.11.001.
Karwowska, J., Piekut, M. (2024). Private Spending on Education in European Households. Humanities and Social Sciences, 31(3), 17-36. https://doi.org/10.7862/rz.2024.hss.28
Kłopocka, A. M. (2017). Does Consumer Confidence Forecast Household Saving and Borrowing Behavior? Evidence for Poland. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11205-016-1376-4
Kłopocka, A. M., Górska, R. (2021). Forecasting household saving rate with consumer confidence indicator and its components: Panel data analysis of 14 European countries.
Kulpaka, P., (2013). Oszczędności, konsumpcja i dochody rozporządzalne gospodarstw domowych w wybranych krajach rozwiniętych i po transformacji ustrojowej. Oficyna Wydawnicza Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie.
Levenko, N. (2020). Perceived uncertainty as a key driver of household saving. International Review of Economics & Finance, 65, 126-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2019.10.005
Matošec, M., Obuljen Zoricic, Z. (2019). Identifying the Interdependence between Consumer Confidence and Macroeconomic Developments in Croatia. Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems, Vol. 17, No. 2, 345–354. https://doi.org/10.7906/indecs.17.2.10
Nanda A. P., Banerjee. R. (2021). Consumer’s subjective financial well‐being: A systematic review and research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 750-776. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12668
Olszewska, G. A. (2023). Household savings in Poland – size, structure, and main determinants. Central European Review of Economics & Finance, 45(4), 110-123. https://doi.org/10.24136/ceref.2023.026
Taufik, N. A., Murdiyanto, E., Sumelvia, A. (2022). Sentimen Bisnis dan Konsumen dalam Siklus Ekonomi Indonesia. Journal Management dan Inovasi. https://doi.org/10.15642/manova.v5i1.727
Vanlaer, W., Bielen, S., Marneffe, W. (2020). Consumer confidence and household saving behaviors: A cross-country empirical analysis. Social Indicators Research, 147, 677-721. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02170-4
Zawadzka A, Grzywińska-Rąpca M. (2021) Financial savings structure – Eurozone and Visegrad Group. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 28(1), 699-717. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2445
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Humanities and Social Sciences