In this paper we examine the effect of widowhood on asset trajectories and portfolio composition. In many industrialized countries, close to half of households are headed by women single, divorced, separated or widowed and therefore their ability to make financial decisions is crucial for their...

This paper aims at detecting whether Italian households exhibit excess sensitivity in their consumption with regard to “severance pay”, a sizable, expected lump sum that workers receive at either retirement or whenever they leave their job for whatever reason. One of the implications of the...

According to economic theory, elderly homeowners should be much more eager than they actually are to adopt financial instruments allowing them to borrow against home equity. This paper investigates the determinants of interest for the Italian elderly in one such instrument, the reverse mortgage....

In this paper we show how liquidity constraints shape Italian households' decisions with regard to supplying their labor. One way to neutralize binding liquidity constraints is by resorting to supplying additional labor, instead of reducing consumption patterns. We estimate whether this channel...

This paper uses new data available from a school census in Togo to analyze differences in primary school performances across regions. Our results, obtained from a stochastic frontier analysis, suggest that differences in efficiency explain only part of the observed variation, while resource...

In this work we revisit the retirement consumption puzzle using Italian panel data. As emphasized in the literature, the observed consumption drop might be due to unexpected wealth shocks at retirement, which modify optimal consumption plans. Using an Euler equation approach, we test the impact...

This paper presents the results from a survey on the attitudes toward reverse mortgages of homeowners aged 45 and over in the Netherlands. We find that there is substantial potential interest in reverse mortgages, especially for the purpose of being able to live more comfortably and not worry...

We study the effect on savings of an increase in the capital risk of the investment opportunities when the representative consumer is allowed to optimally choose her portfolio. Sandmo (1970) and Levhari and Srinivasan (1969) prove that individuals with high risk-aversion and time-separable,...

We use a Cox-type model to investigate the role of the family as an informal market: parents enjoy their children’s proximity (a proxy for the informal care they can receive from their kids) and “reward” them with an anticipated wealth transfer. Children appreciate the reward, particularly...

This paper analyses the effects of social security reforms on saving in Britain. Following the 1986 Social Security Act, the UK pension system has partially shifted from an unfunded basis towards a partially funded basis. Under the new pension scheme, individuals are given the option of...