We propose a method for projecting pension benefits, deriving from DC pension plans and other funded products, at retirement. Projections highlight how the current choice of asset allocation impacts on future potential retirement outcomes. The latter are compared with a money-back benchmark so...

European studies highlight a widening of relative inequalities in general mortality by socioeconomic status from the 1970s to the 1990s. Few studies are available for Southern European countries; they show that these countries represent an exception to these trends. Available evidence on this...

In this paper, we undertake an assessment of the rapidly growing body of research on financial literacy. We start with an overview of theoretical research which casts financial knowledge as a form of investment in human capital. Endogenizing financial knowledge has important implications for...

This study contributes to the investigation of the macro-finance interface by assessing the economic content and risk based interpreta- tion of widely employed risk factors in the specification of empirical asset pricing models, i.e., Fama-French size and value, and Carhart momentum factors, as...

This paper investigates the tension between regulation and financial education in explaining one of the major puzzles in international finance, that is the lack of international diversification. We show that both dimensions are relevant: higher investor’s financial education fosters...

Given a settled reduction in the present level of tax revenue, and by exploring a very large combinatorial space of tax structures, in this paper we employ a genetic algorithm in order to determine the ‘best’ structure of a real world personal income tax that allows for the maximization of...

As economic and financial integration between the US and the euro area is strong, assessing whether the recent US crisis may affect the process of real and nominal convergence within the euro area is important. The paper addresses this issue in the framework of a large-scale open economy...

We investigate the effect of retirement on cognitive functioning using the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The availability of a panel dataset allows to use a fixed effect estimator which is crucial to estimate the effect of individual transitions into retirement on...

This paper considers the relationship between financial markets and income distribution from a perspective that emphasizes the role of people’s ability to use financial markets and their instruments in helping reduce income inequality. Using cross-section and panel regression techniques, it...

While financial knowledge is strongly positively related to household wealth, there is also considerable cross-sectional variation in both financial knowledge and net asset levels. To explore these patterns, we develop a calibrated stochastic life cycle model featuring endogenous financial...