When the economy is subject to recurrent structural shifts, the monetary authority cannot credibly commit to a systematic approach to policy, since consistency between promises and actions is not easily verifiable; moreover, since agents have incomplete knowledge of the surrounding environment,...

The applied literature on adaptive learning has mostly focused on small, linear models, with homogenous expectations. In non-linear models heterogeneous expectations prevail and the process through which agents select (and change) a forecasting model becomes a necessary ingredient of the...

We study the distribution of housing wealth in Italy using data from a sample survey (the survey on household income and wealth) and from administrative records regarding real estate owners held by the Italian Department of the Treasury. Our results show that owners with either a low or a high...

The paper uses questions included in the 2010 wave of the Bank of Italy�s Survey on Household Income and Wealth to investigate the role of family transmission of values. It presents three main empirical findings. First, the paper shows that a number of attitudes (generalized and...

We study the distribution of housing wealth in Italy using data from a sample survey (the survey on household income and wealth) and from administrative records regarding real estate owners held by the Italian Department of the Treasury. Our results show that owners with either a low or a high...

The relationship between the demographic structure and the saving rate of a society is the reflection of the aggregation of the behaviour of heterogeneous households, differing from one another in the type of living arrangements and in the characteristics of their members. In order to contribute...

In most advanced countries, future retirees will have to rely less on social security schemes and more on private pension plans, which mostly leave to the worker the choice between ashing-in or annuitizing pension wealth at retirement. Therefore, a better understanding of the determinants of the...

Technological progress affects early retirement in two opposing ways. On the one hand, it increases real wages and thus produces an incentive to postpone retirement. On the other hand, it erodes workers' skills, making early retirement more likely. Using the Health and Retirement Study surveys,...

In striking contrast with the majority of other European economies, the UK pension system does not pose problems of financial sustainability to public finances. Public expenditure for pensions is foreseen to remain relatively stable for the next 50 years, around 5 percent of GDP, thanks to the...

Participation in supplementary pension funds allows workers to exploit tax benefits and payroll employees to take advantage of employer contributions. The simulations reported in the paper show that these two components can considerably increase workers' retirement wealth. Data show that returns...