{"title":"Determinants of Defined Contribution Pension Choice in the Japanese Workforce","authors":"Satoshi P. Watanabe","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1573205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1573205","url":null,"abstract":"Using a survey data collected by the Japan Institute of Life Insurance in 2002, this study finds a significant gender gap in DC pension knowledge among workers employed at small- to medium-sized private firms in Japan. Even with similar DC knowledge, however, men and women reveal different preferences for DC pensions, indicating that their perceptional responses may widely differ from actual behaviors. Apart from the knowledge gap, the result shows evidence of the Prince Charming Syndrome among female employees as a significant source of the gender gap in DC participation rates. Among corporate pension covered employees the gender difference in the efficacy of DC portability is a more significant gap-generating factor. DC tax advantage is particularly favored by pension covered female employees over male counterparts, reducing the DC preference gap. Finally, single and unmarried female employees have a significant aversion to DC pensions due to the associated investment risk.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114458069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Insuring Consumption Using Income-Linked Assets","authors":"A. Fuster, P. Willen","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1566976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1566976","url":null,"abstract":"Shiller (2003) and others have argued for the creation of financial instruments that allow individuals to insure risks associated with their lifetime labor income. In this paper, we argue that while the purpose of such assets is to smooth consumption across states of nature, one must also consider the assets' effects on households' ability to smooth consumption over time. We show that consumers in a realistically calibrated life-cycle model would generally prefer income-linked loans (with a rate positively correlated with income shocks) to an income-hedging instrument (a limited liability asset whose returns correlate negatively with income shocks) even though the assets offer identical opportunities to smooth consumption across states. While for some parameterizations of our model the welfare gains from the presence of income-linked assets can be substantial (above 1% of certainty-equivalent consumption), the assets we consider can only mitigate a relatively small part of the welfare costs of labor income risk over the life cycle.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"149 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127264544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Response of Household Wealth to the Risk of Losing the Job: Evidence from Differences in Firing Costs","authors":"Cristina Barceló, Ernesto Villanueva","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1555614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1555614","url":null,"abstract":"Economic theory predicts that individuals exposed to the risk of losing their job postpone their consumption and accumulate more assets to build a buffer stock of saving. We provide a new test of the hypothesis using substantial variation in severance payments across contracts in the Spanish labor market. Using the 2002 and 2005 waves of a new survey of wealth and consumption we estimate the link between the probability that several household members lose their job and the wealth and consumption of that household. We instrument the type of contract using regional variation in the amount, timing and target groups of subsidies given to fi rms to hire workers using high severance payment ones. We find that workers covered by fixed-term contracts accumulate more financial wealth. An increase in the probability of losing the job of 8 percentage points increases average financial wealth by 4 months of income. We provide simulations from a simple buffer stock and a permanent income models that suggest that our results are more likely to be generated by the former.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130495779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What is it that Makes the Swiss Annuitise? A Description of the Swiss Retirement System","authors":"Benjamin Avanzi","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1407370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1407370","url":null,"abstract":"The Swiss model of retirement savings and benefits distinguishes itself in several aspects. The system is successful in encouraging substantial savings, which are exonerated from tax and guaranteed. The associated market risk is not transferred to the individuals. From an international perspective it is extraordinary that more than half of the Swiss who retire choose to annuitise their capital at retirement. In addition, not only does the retirement scheme offer annuity benefits at retirement, but it also offers annuity benefits on disability and death. In this paper we describe the Swiss social security system with an emphasis on retirement benefits, giving some insights as to what in Switzerland could explain why the so-called annuity puzzle is not observed. We also discuss some of the main issues the Swiss pensions system is currently facing.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128638304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Private Intergenerational Transfers and Their Ability to Offset the Fiscal Burden of Ageing","authors":"Hayat Khan","doi":"10.1111/j.1468-0106.2009.00493.x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0106.2009.00493.x","url":null,"abstract":"The ratio of retirees to workers in developed countries is expected to increase sharply in the next few decades. In the presence of unfunded income support policies, this increase in old age dependency is expected to increase the future fiscal burden of ageing, which is seen as a threat to living standards. Private intergenerational transfers in the form of bequests are also expected to increase in ageing societies, which may offset the adverse effects of the fiscal burden of population ageing on future living standards. This paper quantifies the ability of these private intergenerational transfers to offset the future fiscal burden of ageing in Australia. This is done through developing a dynamic overlapping generations simulation model with realistic demographics. Calculations based on steady-state simulations (with a pay-as-you-go tax rate equal to 3.3% of GDP) suggest that a bequest to GDP ratio of 1% offsets approximately one-third of the fiscal burden over the lifecycle when measured as a proportion of simple labour income and one-eleventh of the fiscal burden when measured as a proportion of full income (labour income plus leisure). The model is calibrated for Australia under a small open economy assumption such that the optimal solution mimics important cross-sectional and time-series fundamentals of the Australian economy. For the non-steady-state, intergenerational accounting suggests that the empirically plausible intergenerational transfers are strong enough to offset most of the tax burden (80–90%) when measured as a percentage of simple labour income and up to one-quarter of the burden when fiscal burden is measured as a percentage of full income.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125843655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Micro View on Home Equity Withdrawal and Its Determinants Evidence from Dutch Households","authors":"Andrea Ebner","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1550026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1550026","url":null,"abstract":"Home equity is the most important part of a household portfolio, but only recently has it become more accessible through innovations in the mortgage market and financial deregulation. This study looks at the factors driving home equity withdrawal on a household level using Dutch survey data and assesses to which degree different theoretical predictions can be empirically supported. There is little evidence that equity withdrawal is used as a buffer against adverse income shocks, with financial motives and life-cycle effects likely to dominate a household’s decision. Finally, the study provides first evidence of the impact of changing supply side conditions on home equity withdrawal.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"152 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131197025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lewis Mandell, P. Perun, Lisa Mensah, Raymond O'Mara III
{"title":"Real Savings Plus: An Automatic Investment Option for the Automatic IRA","authors":"Lewis Mandell, P. Perun, Lisa Mensah, Raymond O'Mara III","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1522627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1522627","url":null,"abstract":"The Obama administration has proposed bold new policies to expand retirement savings. Through a program of Automatic IRAs, the approximately 78 million, largely lower-income, American workers not currently covered by a plan at work would be able to save through automatic individual retirement accounts. The Administration also plans to simplify and expand the Saver’s Credit to give eligible lower-income savers a 50 per cent “match” on contributions of up to $1,000 to qualified retirement accounts. Together, these proposals promise to enhance the retirement security of millions of Americans. They provide both the savings vehicle and the savings incentive to enable more low- and moderate-income households to arrive at retirement with significant financial assets to supplement Social Security. In this paper, the Initiative on Financial Security at the Aspen Institute proposes an investment option for the Automatic IRA: Real Savings (RS). RS combines two widely traded and highly liquid assets – Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and a broad-based equity market index – to provide savers with a personalized, automatic target date investment option. RS ensures the preservation of the purchasing power of contributions while at the same time offering the significant – and important – upside potential of market participation. RS thus provides low- and moderate-income savers with the opportunity for both growth and safety for their savings. Through an automatic, inexpensive blend of TIPS and the market index, RS protects all savers from the three most likely risks to retirement income – inflation, default by the bond issuer, and falling stock prices. By design, RS fully protects every dollar saved against economic cycles, market declines and loss of purchasing power.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129589163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Estimation of Pensioner Equivalence Scales Using Subjective Data","authors":"M. Stewart","doi":"10.1111/j.1475-4991.2009.00352.x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.2009.00352.x","url":null,"abstract":"This paper uses panel data on pensioners' subjective evaluations of their financial positions to construct equivalence scales for pensioners. A pensioner couple is estimated to require an income 44 percent higher than a comparable single pensioner to reach the same standard of living. This is significantly less than the equivalence scale value implied by the ratio of state pension rates, the McClements equivalence scale value, and the scale value derived from Engel curve estimation for food expenditure using the same data source. The estimated equivalence scale value is robust to variations in the definition of the pensioner sample, the measurement of income, and the econometric model used.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126435182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Savings for Unemployment in Good or Bad Times: Options for Developing Countries","authors":"D. Robalino, Milan Vodopivec, A. Bodor","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1501932","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1501932","url":null,"abstract":"The paper describes and evaluates unemployment insurance savings accounts (UISAs) – a relatively new and not well-known way of providing unemployment benefits. The UISAs reduce work disincentives by allowing recipients to keep their own unused unemployment contributions, and offer the possibility to extend coverage to informal sector workers. In addition, if integrated with mandatory pension systems (and even social pensions), UISAs can be rapidly deployed and at a low cost, thus becoming a realistic tool to protect workers from the effects of the financial crisis. Even during normal times, the integration with the pension system – and social security in general – would give more flexibility to individuals in the management of short and long term savings (i.e., pension wealth) while avoiding unnecessary administrative costs. The paper discusses issues related to incentives, redistribution, and viability, and outlines a policy framework for design and implementation. It argues that the UISAs system is especially attractive for developing countries, where the \"self-policing\" nature of the system is particularly important given a much larger informal sector and weaker administrative capacity in comparison to developed countries.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130381934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Retirement Arrangements of the Self-Employed","authors":"David Joulfaian","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1488418","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1488418","url":null,"abstract":"When compared to wage earners, the take up rate of qualified retirement plans by the self-employed seems to be much lower. This paper explores the various factors that influence the observed participation and contributions to such plans. The findings show that participation declines with business interest expenses suggesting liquidity constraints. In contrast, both participation and contributions rise with mortgage interest expenses. They also rise with interest and dividend income, self-employment income, as well as tax rates. On the other hand, they decline with the size of partnership income. The latter is perhaps a reflection of reporting conventions employed by high income partners which may mask the true participation rate.","PeriodicalId":175023,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models & Savings (Topic)","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127165357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}