Annual Conference: Financial Literacy, Saving and Retirement in an Ageing Society

17-18 September 2012

The demographic development of many industrialized countries has motivated a tightening in public pension benefits and eligibility rules; confronted with less generous social security systems, senior citizens are asked to take active and complex decisions in order to guarantee their living standards at and after retirement. In this context, financial literacy plays a key role in helping people make well-informed financial decisions and plan for their retirement years.

The conference addressed several topics, such as: financial literacy, retirement decisions, well-being of the elderly, life cycle savings and consumption; labour markets and pension design; labour supply decisions, saving and housing wealth.

PROGRAM

(The pdf program is available here)

Monday 17 September

09:30-10:00  Welcome and introduction: Elsa Fornero (Minister of Labour, Social Policies and Equal Opportunities)

10:00-11:00  Keynote speech: Annamaria Lusardi (George Washington University School of Business) “Financial Literacy: What Have We Learned?”

11:00-11:20 Coffee-break

11:20-12:50 Parallel sessions 1 and 2

Session 1: Financial literacy, debt and investment decisions (chair: Rob Alessie)

John Gathergood (University of Nottingham), Richard Disney “Financial Literacy and Consumer Credit Portfolios” – presentation

Mario Padula (University of Venice), Tullio Jappelli “Investment in Financial Literacy and Saving Decisions”presentation

Rob Alessie (University of Groningen), Tabea Bucher-Koenen, Annamaria Lusardi, Maarten van Rooij “How Financially Literate Are Women? Some New Perspectives on the Gender Gap” – presentation

Session 2:  Savings and portfolio decisions (chair: Francesco Manaresi)

Kathrin Johansen (University of Rostock), Michela Coppola “Cognitive Biases, Saving Motives and Households’ Portfolios”

Bettina Lamla (MEA) “Family Background, Informal Networks and the Decision to Provide for Old Age: A Siblings Approach” – presentation

Francesco Manaresi (Bank of Italy), Margherita Fort, Serena Trucchi Banks Information Policies, Financial Literacy and Household Wealth”presentation

12:50-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:00 Parallel sessions 3 and 4

Session 3: Private pension plans and annuities (chair: Giovanna Nicodano)

Elisa Luciano (University of Turin), Luca Regis “Demographic Risk Transfer: Is it Worth for Annuity Providers?” – presentation

Sebastian Kluth (MEA), Tabea Bucher-Koenen “Subjective Life Expectancy and Private Pensions”

Session 4: Experiments (chair: Melanie Luehrmann)

Emre Koc (Tilburg University), Eline van der Heijden, Lex Meijdam “Pensions and Consumption Decisions: Evidence from the Lab”

Melanie Luehrmann (Royal Holloway, University of London and IFS), Marta Serra-Garcia, Joachim Winter “The Effects of Financial Literacy Training: Evidence from a Field Experiment with German High-School Children”

15:00-15:20      Coffee-break

15:20-16:20 Parallel sessions 5 and 6

Session 5: Financial fragility and household debt (chair: Costanza Torricelli)

Dimitris Georgarakos (Goethe University, Frankfurt), Michael Haliassos, Giacomo Pasini “Household Debt and Social Interactions”presentation

Costanza Torricelli (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Marianna Brunetti, Elena Giarda “Is Financial Fragility a Matter of Illiquidity? An Appraisal for Italian Households”presentation

Session 6 : Longevity (chair: Michele Belloni)

Vesile Kutlu (Utrecht University), Adriaan Kalwij “Individuals’ Survival Expectations and Actual Mortality”presentation

Michele Belloni (CeRP- Collegio Carlo Alberto), Adriaan Kalwij, Rob Alessie, Chiara Marinacci “Lifetime Income and Old-Age Mortality Risk in Italy Over Two Decades”presentation

Tuesday 18 September

09:30-10:30 Keynote speech: Arthur Van Soest (Tilburg University) “Satisfaction with Life and Its Domains among Older Individuals across European Countries”

10:30-11:00 Coffee-break

11:00-12:30 Parallel sessions 7 and 8

Session 7: Information and economic education (chair: Tabea Bucher-Koenen)

Marlene Haupt (MEA) “Pension Information, Financial Literacy, and Retirement Saving Behaviour” presentation

Susann Rohwedder (RAND), Michael Hurd “Numeracy and Financial Sophistication, and Their Relationship to Economic Preparation for Retirement” presentation

Tabea Bucher-Koenen (MEA), Johannes Koenen “Do Smarter Consumers Get Better Advice? An Analytical Framework and Evidence from German Private Pensions”presentation

Session 8: Financial literacy and economic preparation (chair: Yuri Pettinicchi)

Maela Giofré (CeRP – Collegio Carlo Alberto) “Financial Education, Investor Protection and International Portfolio Diversification”presentation

Henriette Prast (Tilburg University), Federica Teppa “Is Information Overrated? Evidence from the Pension Domain” presentation

Yuri Pettinicchi (University of Venice) “Financial Literacy, Information Acquisition and Asset Pricing Implications” presentation

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Parallel sessions 9 and 10

Session 9: Macroeconomics and crises (chair: Serena Trucchi)

Alessandro Bucciol (University of Verona), Raffaele Miniaci “Financial Risk Aversion, Past Risk Perception and Economic Crises” – presentation

Anna Lo Prete (University of Turin) “Economic Literacy and the Finance-Inequality Nexus: A Medium-Term Empirical Analysis”

Serena Trucchi (University of Bologna), Renata Bottazzi, Matthew Wakefield “The Effects of the Financial Crisis of the late 2000s on the Wealth, Consumption and Saving of Households in Italy”presentation

Session 10: Pensions (chair: Enrica Croda)

Angelo Marano (Ministry of Labour), Marcello Morciano, Carlo Mazzaferro “The Strengths and Failures of Incentive Mechanisms in Notional Defined Contribution Pension Systems”

Frédéric Gannon (Université du Havre), Vincent Touzé “Pension Rules and Implicit Marginal Tax Rate in France”presentation

Enrica Croda (University of Venice), Jonathan Skinner “Disability Insurance and Health in Europe and the US”

15:30-16.00 Coffee-break

16:00-17:30 Parallel sessions 11 and 12

Session 11: Financial literacy, life cycle and pensions (chair: Agnese Romiti)

Lorenzo Corsini (University of Pisa), Luca Spataro “Optimal Decisions on Pension Plans in the Presence of Financial Literacy Costs” presentation

Simone Ceccarelli (COVIP), Ambrogio Rinaldi “Does Literacy Really Foster Pension Fund Participation? Some Evidence From a Survey of Italian Employees” – presentation

Agnese Romiti (University of Turin), Mariacristina Rossi “Housing Wealth Decumulation, Portfolio Composition and Financial Literacy Among the European Elderly”

Session 12: Employment (chair: Carolina Fugazza)

Simona Comi (University of Milan Bicocca), Erich Battistin, Giorgio Brunello, Daniela Sonedda “Train More Work Longer? The Effects of Pension Reforms and Training Incentives on the Retirement and Training Decisions of Older Workers”presentation

Manuel Flores (University of Santiago de Compostela), Adriaan Kalwij “What Do Wages Add to the Health-Employment Nexus? Evidence from European Elderly”

Carolina Fugazza (CeRP – Collegio Carlo Alberto) “Heterogeneity in the Unemployment Risk Over the Life Cycle”–  presentation

Programme Committee

Margherita Borella, Riccardo Calcagno, Adriaan Kalwij and Mariacristina Rossi

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Financial support for the event from NETSPAR, Regione Piemonte and Ministry of Education (PRIN 2008) is gratefully acknowledged.