1,721,250 research outputs found
Economic Literacy: An International Comparison
Full text linkMany studies show that most people are not financially literate and are unfamiliar with even the most basic economic concepts. However, the evidence on the determinants of economic literacy is scant. This paper uses international panel data on 55 countries, merging indicators of economic literacy with a large set of macroeconomic and institutional variables. Results show that there is substantial heterogeneity of financial and economic competence across countries, and that human capital indicators (PISA test scores and college attendance) are positively correlated with economic literacy. Furthermore, inhabitants of countries with more generous social security systems are generally less literate, lending support to the hypothesis that the incentives to acquire economic literacy are related to the amount of resources available for private accumulation.Economic Literacy, Human Capital, Social Security
Cognitive Abilities and Portfolio Choice
Full text linkWe study the relation between cognitive ability and the decision to invest in stocks using the recent Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The survey has detailed data on wealth and portfolio composition of individuals aged 50+ in 11 European countries and three indicators of cognitive abilities: mathematical, verbal fluency, and recall skills. We find that the propensity to invest in stocks is strongly associated with cognitive abilities, for both direct stock market participation and indirect participation through mutual funds and investment accounts. We also find that stockholding increases with social interactions, intention to leave a bequest, and is negatively associated with health status.
The Dynamics of Household Wealth Accumulation in Italy
Full text linkWe examine the dynamics of wealth accumulation distribution in Italy using data drawn from the Survey of Household Income and Wealth, a representative sample of the Italian population conducted by the Bank of Italy. We compare survey data with national accounts data and discuss sample representativeness, attrition, and measurement issues. We then look at wealth inequality (the cross-sectional dispersion of wealth), wealth mobility (individual transitions across the wealth distribution), and examine the age profile of wealth using repeated cross-sectional data. Finally, we consider various explanations for the pattern of wealth accumulation in Italy, focusing on retirement, bequests, income risk, health shocks, and credit market imperfections.Wealth accumulation, Inequality, Mobility
Awareness and Stock Market Participation
Full text linkThe extent to which consumers are aware of available financial assets depends on the incentives of asset suppliers to spread information about the instruments they issue. We propose a theoretical framework in which the amount of information disseminated and the probability of individuals becoming aware of financial assets are correlated with the probability that, once informed, they will invest in the asset and negatively affected by the cost of spreading information. Social learning is a further channel through which potential investors may come to be informed about existing assets. While social learning may limit the production of financial information by assets suppliers, it increases the probability that individuals become financially aware. These predictions are supported by data on awareness of financial assets available in the 1995 and 1998 waves of the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth. Lack of financial awareness has important implications for understanding the stockholding puzzle and for estimating stock market participation costs.financial information, portfolio choice
Household Portfolios in Italy
Full text linkWe provide a detailed account of the portfolio of Italian households and its evolution, using repeated cross-sectional and panel data drawn from the 1989-98 Bank of Italy Survey of Household Income and Wealth. We offer an in-depth description of the lifetime pattern of asset holdings and their composition, the degree of asset diversification, and the propensity to invest in risky assets. The data also allow us to address some more fundamental issues on the determinants of household portfolios. We look at portfolio mobility and elaborate on the relevance of entry and exit costs. We also provide new evidence on the effect of income risk and information acquisition on portfolio choice.portfolio choice, diversification, portfolio mobility, information
The Portfolio Effect of Pension Reforms
Full text linkWe estimate the portfolio effect of changes in social security wealth exploiting a decade of Italian pension reforms as a source of exogenous variation. The Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth records detailed portfolio data and elicits expectations of retirement outcomes, thus allowing us to measure the expected social security wealth and to assess to what extent Italian households perceive the innovations brought about by the reforms. We find that households have responded to the cut in pension benefits mostly by increasing real estate wealth, and that the response is stronger among households that are able to estimate more accurately future social security benefits. We also compute that for the average household consumable wealth increases by 40 percent of the reduction in social security wealth.Pension Reform, Portfolio Choice, Retirement Saving
Economic Literacy: An International Comparison
Full text linkThis article uses international panel data on 55 countries from 1995 to 2008, merging indicators of economic literacy with a large set of macroeconomic and institutional variables. Results show that there is substantial heterogeneity of financial and economic competence across countries, and that human capital indicators (PISA test scores and college attendance) are positively correlated with economic literacy. Furthermore, inhabitants of countries with more generous social security systems are generally less literate, lending support to the hypothesis that the incentives to acquire economic literacy are related to the amount of resources available for private accumulation. Copyright � 2010 TheAuthor(s). The Economic Journal � 2010 Royal Economic Society.
Awareness and Stock Market Participation
Full text linkThe paper documents lack of awareness of financial assets in the 1995 and 1998 Bank of Italy Surveys of Household Income and Wealth. It then explores the determinants of awareness, and finds that the probability that survey respondents are aware of stocks, mutual funds and investment accounts is positively correlated with education, household resources, long-term bank relations and proxies for social interaction. Lack of financial awareness has important implications for understanding the stockholding puzzle and for estimating stock market participation costs.Financial Information, Portfolio Choice
Background Uuncertainty and the Demand for Insurance against Insurable Risks
Full text linkTheory suggests that people facing higher uninsurable background risk buy more insurance against other risks that are insurable. This proposition is supported by Italian cross-sectional data. It is shown that the probability of purchasing casualty insurance increases with earnings uncertainty. This finding is consistent with consumer preferences being characterised by decreasing absolute prudenceInsurance, background risk, prudence
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