Saving-Investment Connection: Evidence from the Asean Countries

The relationship between saving and investment has been sharply debated in the literature following the pioneering work of Feldstein and Horioka (1980). This paper extends this debate to the ASEAN countries by using cointegration procedure in time-series analysis. Specifically, three analyses are conducted. First, saving and investment are tested to determine the order of integration using both the Dickey–Fuller (DF) and augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) approaches. Second, the long-run equilibrium relationship between saving and investment is explored by utilizing the cointegration tests proposed by Johansen and Juselius (1990). Third, Granger–causality tests based on vector error-correction models (VECM) are undertaken to ascertain the direction of causality between the two series. The results indicate that saving and investment are integrated of order one [1(1)]. Based on the cointegration results, saving and investment are found to share long-run equilibrium association. The Granger-causality tests reveal that investment causes saving in the cases of Indonesia and Singapore. For the Philippines, causality runs from saving to investment. As for Malaysia and Thailand, the results suggest bi-directional causality between saving and investment.