Person:
Servén, Luis

Macroeconomics and Growth Unit, Development Research Group
Loading...
Profile Picture
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Financial and private sector development, Debt, Shocks and Vulnerabilities, Macroeconomics
Degrees
ORCID
Departments
Macroeconomics and Growth Unit, Development Research Group
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
LUIS SERVEN is Senior Advisor in the World Bank’s Research Department, where he manages the research program on Macroeconomics and Growth. He previously managed the Bank’s regional research program on Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining the Bank he worked as a senior researcher at FEDEA, an economics think tank where he was part of the founding team, and taught at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, MIT, PUC-Rio and CEMFI. His current research focuses on capital flows and exchange rates, fiscal policy, and productivity and growth. He has published numerous books and articles in professional journals on these and other research topics. He holds a Bachelor in Economics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently he is co-editor of The World Bank Economic Review and The World Bank Research Observer.  
Citations 48 Scopus

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Publication
    Saving - What Do We Know, and Why Do We Care?
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-08) Servén, Luis; Schmidt-Hebbel, Klaus
    In principle, there is little reason people, and countries facing different shocks, and income streams should strive for optimal saving rates. But in practice, the inter-temporal choices that underlie saving, are subject to externalities, market failures, and policy distortions, that can cause saving rates to differ from welfare-maximizing levels. The social value of saving could also exceed its private value, because of imperfections in global financial markets. Still, a national saving rate broadly in line with an economy's investment rate, reduces vulnerability to sudden shifts in international capital flows, driven by uncontrollable behavior, or self-fulfilling investor expectations. Yet, as shown by the recent East Asia crisis, high saving alone does not provide complete insurance against the consequences of weak financial systems, or unsustainable exchange rate policies. This is the subject analyzed in this note, through a recent Bank research project, that shows savings has important interactions with income and growth, with resulting implications for policy. Such policies that spur development are an indirect, but effective way to raise private saving. The note further examines this private saving, and public policy, outlining fiscal issues, financial liberalization, and the impact of pension reform. The note reflects on situations where reforms both invite aid, and induce higher investment and growth - so that aid and saving rise together - concluding that aid need not invariably crowd out national saving.