This paper examines how the absorption of talent into the financial sector affects the real sectors in the economy. Based on a sample of 13 countries observed over the period 1980-2005, I show that financial liberalization is associated with skill-upgrading in the financial sector. I exploit...

We analyse three databases of banking crises and investigate their consistency in the identification and timing of crises. We find that there are large and statistically significant discrepancies between the three datasets. We also compare the dating of banking crises according to these...

We estimate changes in firm-specific volatility in sales and earnings growth of US firms. We do so using an approach which better captures firm-specific volatility than commonly used dispersion measures do. Our results do not lend strong support to the common view that firm-specific volatility...

This paper maps the empirical features of the Loan-to-Deposit (LTD) ratio with an eye on using it in macroprudential policy to mitigate liquidity risk. We inspect the LTD trends and cycles of 11 euro area countries by filtering methods and analyze the interaction between loans and deposits. We...

This study investigates whether individual choices in the pension domain are vulnerable to the way alternatives are communicated to respondents. The analysis is based on a set of hypothetical questions posed in the DNB House-hold Survey as well as in the RAND American Life Panel on pension...

Efficient payment services underpin the smooth operation of the economy. Competition and innovation are key drivers for payment market efficiency in both the short and long run. This paper gives an overview and tries to assess the key determinants that affect pricing, competition and the...

The U.S. banking sector has grown substantially since the 1970s and has become more skill-intensive over time. This paper exploits variation in banking deregulation across U.S. states between 1997 and 2008 to test whether the banking sector absorbs talent at the expense of the real sectors in...

In this study we gauge the impact of social interactions on individual retirement preferences. A survey including self-assessments and vignette questions shows that individual preferences are affected by preferences and actual retirement behavior of the social environment. Retirement from paid...

In the domain of pension statistics comparability of pension entitlements across countries improved substantially due to new SNA/ESA recommendations. In the near future, inclusion of unfunded employment related pension schemes in the core accounts or in the supplementary table on pensions will...

The two decades prior to the credit crisis witnessed a strategic shift from a traditional, relationships-oriented model (ROM) to a transactions-oriented model (TOM) of financial intermediation in developed countries. A concurrent trend has been a persistent decline in average bank interest...