April 2026
01Apr

Gold’s worst month in years tests its role as a pension hedge

Gold just posted its worst month in more than a decade even as prices bounced on Tuesday, underscoring how the Iran war, inflation fears and higher‑for‑longer rates are hitting one of the most widely used hedging assets. Reuters said that the spot gold rose 3.2 percent to $4,652.31 per ounce by 1:31 pm EDT, the highest level since March 20, while US gold futures settled 2.7 percent higher at $4,678.60. CNBC reported that gold futures still fell more than 10 percent in March, marking their biggest monthly decline since June 2013...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Italy’s population stops shrinking after 12 years, thanks to migration

Italy's population has stabilised after 12 ‌years of decline, with immigration almost entirely offsetting a shrinking number of births, while life expectancy continues to rise, national statistics agency ISTAT said on Tuesday. Preliminary data showed the ​resident population stood at 58.94 million on January 1 this year, virtually ​unchanged from a year earlier, ISTAT said in its annual ⁠demographic report. "Italy remains a country where only very positive net migration can offset ​a largely negative natural change and where the population...

April 1, 2026
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February 2026
27Feb

Fairness Views, Pension Benefits, and Heterogeneity in Life Expectancy

By Maria Chaykina Notional Defined Contribution (NDC) pension schemes convert accumulated pension wealth into an annuity, based on an average life expectancy at retirement. When longevity differs across social groups, a single conversion factor implies systematic transfers from shorter-lived to longer-lived individuals. This motivates proposals to differentiate benefits by socio-demographic characteristics related to life expectancy. We study whether such differentiation is perceived as fair using a survey experiment involving 3,004 Italian residents aged 18-66. Respondents completed an incentivised allocation task...

February 27, 2026
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20Feb

Retirement Under Policy Uncertainty

By Piera Bello, Vincenzo Galasso & Alessandro Izzo This paper examines how policy uncertainty influences retirement decisions. We develop a simple model in which individuals face a one-time choice between immediate retirement and continued employment until the statutory retirement age. In the absence of policy uncertainty, retirement decisions depend solely on the standard income–leisure trade-off. When future pension reforms are uncertain, however, individuals also take into account the perceived risk of increases in the retirement age or reductions in benefit...

February 20, 2026
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December 2025
19Dec

European Financial Ecosystems. Comparing France, Sweden, UK and Italy.

By Stefano Caselli & Marta Zava The study examines the structure, functioning, and strategic implications of financial ecosystems across four European countries-France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Italy-to identify institutional best practices relevant to the ongoing transformation of Italy's financial system. Building on a comparative analysis of legislation and regulation, taxation, investor bases, and financial intermediation, the report highlights how distinct historical and institutional trajectories have shaped divergent models: the French dirigiste system anchored by powerful state-backed institutions and deep...

December 19, 2025
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April 2025
15Apr

Italy launches ‘baby bonus’ scheme to combat declining birthrate

Italy's new "baby bonus" initiative was launched on Monday, marking the latest step in the country's ongoing efforts to reverse its declining birthrate. The Italian National Institute for Social Security on Monday unveiled the formal process for families to access a tax-free allowance of 1,000 euros (1,135 US dollars) for each child born or adopted in 2025. The bonus will be granted to Italian citizens as well as citizens of other European Union (EU) member states and non-EU nationals who hold...

April 15, 2025
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01Apr

Italy’s fertility rate hits record low in 2024

Italy's fertility rate fell to the lowest level ever recorded in 2024, the country's main statistical entity said on Monday. According to Italy's National Statistics Institute, known as ISTAT, around 370,000 births were registered in Italy last year, a decrease of 2.6 percent from the previous year. The death rate also declined, ISTAT said, falling by 3.1 percent last year to 651,000. That means there were 281,000 more deaths than births in the country in 2024, pushing the country's average life...

April 1, 2025
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April 2024
23Apr

Italian schemes bolster ESG standards in private equity allocations

Italian industry-wide pension funds (Fondi Negoziali) are increasingly applying ESG standards to private equity investments. According to a report on ESG and investment policies of Italian institutional investors published by think tank Itinerari Previdenziali, 21% of industry-wide pension schemes apply ESG criteria to allocate to private equity, a steep rise from the 7% recorded in 2023. However, occupational, pre-existing and first pillar schemes (Casse di Previndeza) still shy away from handing out specific mandates for asset management linked to sustainability goals, the...

April 23, 2024
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March 2024
27Mar

Older Workers, Pension Reforms and Firm Outcomes

By Francesca Carta, Francesco D’Amuri & Till Von Wachter Using Italian matched worker-firm data, this paper quantifies the effect of an exogenous increase in older workers driven by an unexpected raise in statutory retirement ages on medium and large firms' input mix and economic outcomes. Data on lifetime pension contributions are used to calculate the expected additional number of older workers retained by each firm due to the pension reform. Instrumental variable estimates show an increase in older workers leads...

March 27, 2024
Aging, Articles, , , ,
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January 2024
23Jan

OECD tells Italy to curtail State pensions for high earners

The OECD on Monday called on Italy to reform its pension system, making it less generous for high earners. “Reducing the generosity of pensions for higher-income households could limit the [forecast] increase in [pension] spending, while maintaining adequate public services and social protection,” read the OECD’s economic survey of Italy. The Paris-based body also stressed the need to phase out a variety of schemes that make it possible to start claiming a State pension before the retirement age, as has already...

January 23, 2024
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