This paper uses new data available from a school census in Togo to analyze differences in primary school performances across regions. Our results, obtained from a stochastic frontier analysis, suggest that differences in efficiency explain only part of the observed variation, while resource...

Given a settled reduction in the present level of tax revenue, and by exploring a very large combinatorial space of tax structures, in this paper we employ a genetic algorithm in order to determine the ‘best’ structure of a real world personal income tax that allows for the maximization of...

We investigate the effect of retirement on cognitive functioning using the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The availability of a panel dataset allows to use a fixed effect estimator which is crucial to estimate the effect of individual transitions into retirement on...

The concept of “familiarity” has been used in financial economics to explain apparent paradoxes in people’s behavior, such as the home bias in portfolio choices. In this study, we investigate whether (lack of) familiarity with the language of investor communication may contribute to an...

In this paper we examine the effect of widowhood on asset trajectories and portfolio composition. In many industrialized countries, close to half of households are headed by women single, divorced, separated or widowed and therefore their ability to make financial decisions is crucial for their...

We use household panel data to explore the link between transitions of a household member (not only the wife) into the workforce and negative income shocks (unemployment and/or income support) suffered by another household member. We take the case of Italy where family ties other than spousal...

The high volatility observed in financial markets during the last crisis prompted renewed interest in designing truly diversified portfolios. One of the most interesting approach proposed by recent literature is the Equally-weighted Risk Contribution strategy (Maillard et al., 2009), usually...

We propose a method for projecting pension benefits, deriving from DC pension plans and other funded products, at retirement. Projections highlight how the current choice of asset allocation impacts on future potential retirement outcomes. The latter are compared with a money-back benchmark so...

Financial literacy has important implications for economic reforms. Reforms are meant to change people’s behavior and their effectiveness crucially depends on the ability of citizens to recognize and generally approve their necessity, their general design, and their “sense of direction.”...

This paper considers the relationship between financial markets and income distribution from a perspective that emphasizes the role of people’s ability to use financial markets and their instruments in helping reduce income inequality. Using cross-section and panel regression techniques, it...