Based on a sample of university students, we provide field and laboratory evidence that a small scale training intervention has both a statistically and economically significant effect on subjective and objective assessments of financial knowledge. We show also that the intervention increases...

We estimate a forward-looking New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC) for the U.S. using data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters as proxy for expected inflation. We obtain significant and plausible estimates for the structural parameters of the NKPC (the discount factor and the share of...

In 2000 Italy replaced its traditional system of severance pay for public employees with a new system. Under the old regime, severance pay was proportional to the final salary before retirement; under the new regime it is proportional to lifetime earnings. This reform entails substantial losses...

We present an intertemporal consumption model of consumer investment in financial literacy. Consumers benefit from such investment because their stock of financial literacy allows them to increase the returns on their wealth. Since literacy depreciates over time and has a cost in terms of...

Recent models with liquidity constraints and impatience emphasize that consumers use savings to buffer incomefluctuations. When wealth is below an optimal target, consumers try to increase their buffer stock of wealth bysaving more, while, if wealth is above target, they increase consumption....