Structural econometric methods that assume agents have rational expectations are often criticized. Yet, little is known about the relative costs and benefits of adopting alternative empirical strategies. This paper compares three procedures for inference about a single structural parameter using...

This paper investigates the influence of a firm's financial status on the within-firm allocation of funds, reflected in its plant-level investment and exit decisions. In the empirical analysis, financial status is measured by both standard measures and an indicator variable recently suggested by...

We analyze a model of life-cycle savings decisions which allows for both life-time and income uncertainty. We then simulate life-cycle saving rates based on empirical income processes estimated from West German household data. Our main findings are, first, that allowing for mortality risk...

An important issue in designing survey questions on household consumption is the level of aggregation of expenditure categories. In this paper, I present experimental evidence on biases that are related to the choice of expenditure categories. Comparing responses to a 'one shot' question with...

In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis of the international capital flows induced by differences in population aging processes across countries and by pension reforms. In the vast majority of countries, demographic change will continue well into the 21st century. It is well known that...

France, Germany and Italy, to take the three largest economies in continental Europe, have large and ailing pay-as-you-go public pension systems, very thin capital markets, and low capital performance. This paper proposes to study these three issues together, taking Germany as an example....

We present a quantitative analysis of the effects of population aging and pension reform on international capital markets. First, demographic change alters the time path of aggregate savings within each country. Second, this process may be amplified when a pension reform shifts old-age provision...

We analyze life-cycle savings decisions when households use simple heuristics, or rules of thumb, rather than solve the underlying intertemporal optimization problem. The decision rules we explore are a simple Keynesian rule where consumption follows income; a simple consumption rule where only a...

Life insurance, in particular whole life insurance, plays an important role for private saving in Germany. Whole life insurance combines the insurance against uncertain death with a savings plan. Accordingly, a stylized model of life-cycle behavior would predict that whole life insurance...

We analyze nonresponse to questions on financial items such as income and asset holdings in the SAVE survey, exploiting a controlled field experiment. As part of the SAVE study, a representative survey conducted in Germany in 2001, questions on household income and financial assets were...