We analyze the effect of enhanced annuities on an insurer engaging in individualunderwriting. We use a frailty model for the heterogeneity of the insured populationand model the individual underwriting by a random variable that positivelycorrelates with the corresponding frailty factor. For a...

Das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis herkömmlicher Rentenversicherungen steigt mitder Lebenserwartung des Versicherten. Derartige Produkte sind damit nur für Personen mit relativ hoher Lebenserwartung attraktiv. Der Nachteil für Versichertemit reduzierter Lebenserwartung wird durch steuerliche...

In comparing an immediate life annuity with a payout-equivalent investment fundpayout plan (self-annuitization), research to date has focused mainly on shortfallprobabilities of self-annuitization. As an exception, Schmeiser and Post (2005)propose a family strategy where the chances of...

Much of the industrialized world is undergoing a significant demographic shift, placing strain on public pension systems. Policymakers are responding with pension system reforms that put more weight on privately managed retirement funds. One concern with these changes is the effect on individual...

Der Beitrag greift das in der Literatur wenig beleuchtete Problem der vorteilhaftenStrukturierung einer Immobilienfinanzierung für Privatinvestoren ausgehend von am Marktbeobachtbaren unterschiedlichen angebotenen Nominalzinssätzen auf. Es werden bislangunbehandelte Optimierungspotenziale...

We introduce a framework for analyzing the interplay between credit risk and collateralmarket risk on loan pricing. To do this, we decompose any loan into an unsecured and asecured part. Further we explicitly consider the recovery process. The framework allows usto develop semi-analytical...

The aim of this study is to examine the underlying dimensions of self-stated attitudesand behaviour concerning everyday financial affairs, and classify individuals basedon those dimensions. A questionnaire was answered by 1282 respondents in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The sample of...

We conduct controlled experiments in order to analyze individual trading behavior. Our results suggest that investors measure their gains relative to their initial wealth, and that this reference point together with past stock price changes determine the portfolio choices. Subjects choose a...

Economists have forcefully argued for the introduction and use of property derivatives as a hedge against house price risk (e.g. Shiller and Weiss, 1999). The rationale for these financial instruments seems clear, as many households are heavily invested in housing and standard financial...

The prospect theory of Kahneman and Tversky (1979) and the cumulative prospect theory of Tversky and Kahneman (1992) are descriptive models for decision making that summarize several violations of the expected utility theory. This paper gives a survey of applications of prospect theory to the...