Savings are, apart from inheritances and transfers, the corner stone for the accumulation of wealth. Against the background of rising economic inequality in industrialized countries and the ongoing assessment of its root causes, analyses of the distribution of savings along the income and wealth...

The first part of this paper provides a brief survey of the recent literature that employs survey data on household finance and consumption. Given the breadth of the topic, it focuses on issues that are particularly relevant for policy, namely i) wealth effects on consumption, ii) housing prices...

This report analyses the main developments in housing finance in the euro area in the decade, covering the period from 1999 to 2007. It looks at mortgage indebtedness, various characteristics of loans for house purchase, the funding of such loans and the spreads between the interest rates on...

We analyse how alternative reforms of the student financial aid would influence average study duration, government expenditures, and tax revenues. We also consider the reform that has been proposed by the current government (in 2016) which consists of lowering the monthly student grant and...

Studie zu Dispozinsen / Ratenkrediten Aktenzeichen: 514-06.01-2810HS034 Laufzeit 8/2011 – 5/2012 - Zusammenfassung – In Deutschland verfügen etwa 80 Prozent der Haushalte über einen Dispositionskredit. Bei beträchtlicher Variation liegt der eingeräumte Kreditrahmen bei knapp dem 3-fachen...

Although euro banknotes and coins have been in circulation for fifteen years, not much is known about the actual use of cash by households. This paper presents an estimation of the number and value of cash transactions in all 19 euro area countries in 2016, based on survey results. It presents...

This paper presents the overall status, characteristics, and policy framework of the housing sector and the initiatives towards energy efficiency in residential buildings in Belgium in order to assess the market demand for EuroPACE - an on-tax financing scheme for home retrofits. In fact, there...

Die Anforderungen an die Finanzkompetenzen der Bevölkerung steigen aus einer Reihe von Gründen weiter an. Anhand des Datensatzes "Private Haushalte und ihre Finanzen" zeigt diese Studie, dass in Deutschland relativ viele Haushalte über eine hohe Finanzkompetenz verfügen; dennoch besteht hier...

The Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) is an important new tool for analysing euro area household economic behaviour and expectations. This new survey covers a range of important topical areas including consumption and income, inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the labour market,...

Do asset prices affect real activity? This question has taken on a new importance in recent years, as asset values first surged at the end of 1990s and, thereafter, dramatically retreated. This report reviews the available theoretical and empirical evidence regarding asset price and wealth...