This paper examines robust estimators of core inflation for Belgian historical CPI data, and for euro area Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices. Evidence of fat tails in the cross-sections of price changes is provided by traditional measures, as well as by a robust measure of the tail weights...

Despite its importance for the analysis of life-cycle behavior and, in particular, retirement planning, stock ownership by private households is poorly understood. Among other approaches to investigate these puzzles, recent research has started to elicit private households' expectations of stock...

This paper investigates the impact of consumers' safety perception on debit card and cash usage. A conceptual framework of safety perception and payment behaviour is introduced and tested with 2008 consumer survey data. The results demonstrate that consumers' payment preferences for cash and...

This paper examines the predictive power of weather for electricity prices in day ahead markets in real time. We find that next-day weather forecasts improve the forecast accuracy of Scandinavian day-ahead electricity prices substantially in terms of point forecasts, suggesting that weather...

In card payment systems, no-surcharge rules prohibit merchants from charging consumers extra for card payments. However, Dutch retailers are allowed to surcharge consumers for their debit card use. This allows an empirical analysis of the impact of surcharging on the demand for debit card...

We estimate the excess impact of financial asset capital losses relative to gains on household active savings and durable goods consumption in the Netherlands. The sample period covers both the stock market boom during the 90's, and the bear period afterwards. The results suggest that households...

This paper presents an analysis of the financial behaviour of Dutch households on the basis of the DNB Household Survey. The results of this survey provide insight into the backgrounds and consequences of the persistent rise of household debt. The increase in mortgage debt is related to mortgage...

This paper analysis the results of a survey on qualitative and quantitative perceptions and expectations of past, current and future macroeconomic developments among a representative household panel (DNB Household Survey). Perceptions of economic growth and inflation show a large dispersion. For...

Survey results show that Dutch consumers perceive paying in cash as an inexpensive way to pay, while they regard electronic payment cards as relatively expensive. This finding partly explains the low usage of electronic payment cards in point-of-sale (POS) payments. The survey also highlights...

The default option in individual decision making has proved to be a major attractor in a large number of situations, but we still have little information on the reasons why decision makers so often stick to the default choice. We have devised a new module for the Dutch DNB Household Survey to...