December 2018

10Dec

The Vulnerability of Older Australians in Bankruptcy: Insights from an Empirical Study

By Lev Bromberg (The University of Melbourne), Ian Ramsay (Melbourne Law School - University of Melbourne), Paul Ali (University of Melbourne - Law School; Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR)) This article presents the results of the first empirical study focused on older Australians in bankruptcy. Our study — based on the examination of a large and unique dataset obtained by the authors from the bankruptcy regulator — provides a valuable insight into the severe financial challenges faced by...

December 10, 2018
Aging, Articles, Pension design, , ,
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10Dec

Human Movement Across Border: Key Ingredient Behind Thai Economy and the Future

By Akadet Chaichanavichakit (Waseda University, Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies) Over the past 50 years, immigration has become a strong force throughout the world. Economic opportunity is among one of the most important factors expediting migrant’s decision to move. The destination countries, which in general have relatively higher level of economic development, usually share the same characteristics of intense labor demands, aging population, and declining birth rate. Therefore, migrant workers have become an important, or even integral, part to...

December 10, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, , ,
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04Dec

Pension Reform and Return to Work Policies

By Maria Donovan Fitzpatrick For many people, working after beginning retirement benefit collection is a way to enhance financial security by increasing income. Existing research has shown that retirees are sensitive to the Social Security earnings test, which restricts the amount of earnings some beneficiaries can receive. However, little is known about the effects of other types of policies on post-retirement employment. Instead of restricting earnings, many public pension plans restrict the number of hours beneficiaries can work. I use...

December 4, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, , ,
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03Dec

The Effect of Work Disability on the Intention to Retire of Older Workers

By Danilo Cavapozzi (Ca Foscari University of Venice - Dipartimento di Economia; Netspar) & Chiara Dal Bianco (Department of Economics and Management, University of Padova) In this paper, we analyze the effect of work disability on the desire to retire as soon as possible of older workers. We exploit objective health indicators and anchoring vignettes to develop work disability measures enhancing the comparability across individuals of work disability self-assessments. Our results show that, even once controlling for individual fixed-effects, individuals...

December 3, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, ,
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03Dec

Can Information Influence the Social Insurance Participation Decision of China’s Rural Migrants?

By John Giles (World Bank; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)), Xin Meng (Australian National University; IZA Institute of Labor Economics), Guochang Zhao (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE)) This paper uses a randomized information intervention to shed light on whether poor understanding of social insurance, both the process of enrolling and costs and benefits, drives the relatively low rates of participation in urban health insurance and pension programs among China's rural-urban migrants....

December 3, 2018
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03Dec

Effects of Future Pension Benefits on Pre-Retirement Labor Supply: Evidence from Chile

By Oscar Becerra (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia) In this paper, I estimate the effect of future pension benefits on pre-retirement labor supply for a representative sample of Chilean workers. Using non-linear patterns in pension benefit formulas and a reform that changed non-contributory pensions, I estimate the effect of pension accrual and expected pension wealth on labor force and contributory-sector participation, labor earnings, and hours worked. I find that the effect is related to the impact of pension accrual on...

December 3, 2018
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November 2018

02Nov

Fintech for Financial Inclusion: A Framework for Digital Financial Transformation

By Douglas W. Arner (The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law), Ross P. Buckley (University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law), Dirk A. Zetzsche (Universite du Luxembourg - Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance; Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Center for Business & Corporate Law (CBC)) Access to finance, financial inclusion and financial sector development have long been major policy objectives. A series of initiatives have aimed to increase access to finance and financial inclusion,...

November 2, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, System Sustainability, ,
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02Nov

Retirement Savings of the Hip Generation: A Study of Retirement Preparation among Individuals in Their Fifties

By M. Kabir Hassan (University of New Orleans - College of Business Administration - Department of Economics and Finance), Shari Lawrence (University of New Orleans - College of Business Administration - Department of Economics and Finance) Longer retirement periods coupled with the inadequacy of the Social Security system, low personal savings rates, and a decreasing trend in the prevalence of defined benefit retirement plans threaten to put a financial strain on individuals approaching retirement. To that end, we investigate retirement...

November 2, 2018
Articles, Savings, ,
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02Nov

How Does Delayed Retirement Affect Mortality and Health?

By Alice Zulkarnain (Boston College - Center for Retirement Research), Matthew S. Rutledge (Boston College, Center for Retirement Research) Older Americans have been retiring later for a number of reasons, including jobs that are becoming less physically demanding, the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions, and changes in Social Security’s incentives. What are the implications of working longer for workers’ mortality and health? Answering this question is complicated, because work and health are jointly determined – healthy people...

November 2, 2018
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October 2018

29Oct

The Causal Mechanism of Financial Education: Evidence from Mediation Analysis

By Fenella Carpena (Oslo Business School) & Bilal Zia (World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)) This paper uses a field experiment in India with multiple financial education treatments to investigate the causal mechanisms between financial education and financial behavior. Focusing on the mediating role of financial literacy, the paper proposes a broader definition of financial knowledge that includes three dimensions: numeracy skills, financial awareness, and attitudes toward personal finance. The analysis then employs causal mediation analysis to investigate the proportion...

October 29, 2018
Articles, Savings
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