We explore the role of financial openness - capital account openness and gross capital inflows - and a newly constructed gravity-based contagion index to assess the importance of these factors in the run-up to currency crises. Using a quarterly data set of 46 advanced and emerging market...

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...

In this paper we investigate pension preferences and the effect of individual freedom of choice on risk taking in the context of pension arrangements based on a representative survey of about 1000 Dutch citizens. The attitude towards pension schemes and portfolio choices is explained by...

(paper is in Dutch) This study surveys the behavioural finance literature. It discusses both the literature that incorporates behavioural considerations into rational models, and the literature that concentrates on the role of prospect theory and the effect of cognitive-psychological mechanisms...

Individuals are increasingly put in charge of their financial security after retirement. Moreover, the supply of complex financial products has increased considerably over the years. However, we still have little or no information about whether individuals have the financial knowledge and skills...

The empirical connection between financial incentives and retirement decisions largely derives from revealed preferences in cross-sectional settings. This raises the issue to what extent unobserved tastes for retirement - which may correlate with job selection and through that route with...

Central banks have become more and more transparent about their monetary policy making process. In the central bank transparency literature the distinction between actual and perceived transparency is often lacking. However, as perceptions are crucial for the actions of economic agents this...

This paper surveys the behavioural finance explanation of six puzzles of finance. These puzzles are: stock price under- and overreactions, excessive trading and the gender puzzle, financial hypes and panic, the equity premium puzzle, the winner/loser puzzle and the dividend puzzle. After an...

We present new evidence on financial literacy and retirement preparation in the Netherlands based on two surveys conducted before and after the onset of the financial crisis. We document that while financial knowledge did not increase from 2005 to 2010, significantly more individuals planned for...