Income, Institutions, and Saving Performance in Individual Development Accounts

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between income and saving performance in Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). The authors first discuss theories of saving. Next, for IDA participants in the American Dream Demonstration (ADD), they look at income sources and distribution, followed by tabulations of income and IDA savings outcomes. Following this, the article discusses results from regression analyses on IDA savings outcomes. It was found that the IDA savings amount did not increase with income and that the IDA saving rate decreased with income. Although the data do not reveal exactly what caused this, the authors believe that institutional factors in IDA programs played an important role.