We analyze the monitoring role of occupational pension funds, the largest category of shareholders in the UK. Our hypothesis is that, unlike other financial institutions, occupational pension funds are expected to monitor companies in which they hold large stakes because of their objectives,...

In Italia, nonostante le recenti riforme, lo sviluppo dei fondi pensione rimane insoddisfacente, limitando il risparmio previdenziale dei lavoratori e l’articolazione del mercato privato dei capitali. Questo studio esamina i motivi alla base di questo ritardo, analizza i possibili vantaggi che...

We show that predictable covariances between means and variances of stock returns may have a first order effect on portfolio composition. In an international asset menu that includes both European and North American small capitalization equity indices, we find that a three-state, heteroskedastic...

The aim of this paper is to characterise the time series properties of earnings in Italy, using the panel data set drawn from the Bank of Italy Survey of Households’ Income and Wealth (SHIW). The Bank of Italy Survey is drawn every two years: this feature raises identification problems as the...

Many older US households have done little or no planning for retirement, and there is a substantial population that seems to undersave for retirement. Of particular concern is the relative position of older women, who are more vulnerable to old-age poverty due to their longer longevity. This...

Individuals are increasingly in charge of their own financial security after retirement. But how well-equipped are individuals to make saving decisions; do they possess adequate financial literacy, are they informed about the most important components of saving plans, do they even plan for...

This paper presents an analysis on how the expected development of pension funds in Italy will contribute toenhance corporate governance. The existing evidence on this issue comes mainly from the Anglo Saxon countries but it does notshow unequivocal effectiveness of activism on firm performance....

We calculate the ex-post portfolio performance for an investor who diversifies among stocks, bonds, REITS and cash. Simulations are performed for two alternative asset allocation frameworks – classical and Bayesian - and for scenarios involving two different samples and six different...