Analysis of saving behaviour on the example of international university students in 2019

The main objective of our research was to analyse saving intentions of the young generation especially to examine international university student behavior. Saving decisions can be influenced by a lot of different kinds of factors for a target group. We have chosen a special age group of young people attending university because we think their saving decision making will influence the future in the different countries they are from.

Savings are the engine of the economy and crucial for the growth of economy. The role of savings has always been an important area of economics and economic analyses at any given time. The research will study methods of saving, reasons and means of saving, gross savings and types of savings, and the young generation’s point of view on the importance of saving. These are crucially important for identifying the influencing factors for the next generation labor force and decision makers of society. Hungary became an attractive destination for foreign students using different methods and scholarships during the last years. Our study that is focusing on this subject is unique and the first one on this topic.

We set up the following main hypothesis:

H1: Previous financial studies have a positive impact on the volume of current savings.

H2: Higher qualification, meaning the highest education level of the adult members of their household, results in higher savings.

H3: The saving decisions of students participating in an educational program in a foreign language are influenced by their country of origin.

A survey was conducted at Hungarian Universities. We asked international undergraduate university students from more than 35 foreign universities who study in Hungary about their saving behavior. We hope to demonstrate that saving decisions are influenced by tradition, origin, education, country specifications and sociocultural aspects. The primary questions were divided into 3 larger sections including general information, financial background, saving attitudes and saving decision criteria. We received more than 400 completed questionnaires. The secondary source of data is the Eurostat and OECD. As the first step, we use regression analysis to assess relationships. With multivariable analysis, we group international students by savings intentions.

Our expected results focus on the factors influencing the young university student generation with respect to whether they have a long-term and strategic way of thinking about their own savings and what their intentions are with respect to their savings in different countries.