Understanding Domestic Savings in Chile

Abstract

This paper constructs time series data on savings per type of agent for Chile during the period 1960-2012. It is found that the economy's average savings rate increased by 11 percentage points in the period 1985-2012 compared to 1960- 1984, with particularly pronounced growth in corporate savings. The evidence suggests that this increase was driven largely by the following measures: i) pension reform that introduced mandatory savings and private sector management, ii) banking reform, iii) tax reform, iv) capital markets reform and v) privatizations.