CREA Lecture - Savings and Retirement: A Cross-European Comparison

SYNOPSIS

Since 2001, several European governments have introduced pension reforms aimed at increasing the participation rate in private pension funds (e.g., NEST in the UK in 2012) while reducing the public benefits to future retirees. This paper uses the cross-European SHARE/ELSA databases to examine whether declines in future state pension provisions have been offset by increases in private retirement savings.

We provide a taxonomy of state pension changes in European countries, and use this taxonomy to identify the dates at which pension changes are implemented. We provide new evidence not only on the effect of a reduction of public sector pension provision on personal private savings at an aggregate level, but also on the participation decision and level of savings by sub-groups within countries. Our findings confirm that there is some evidence that reduced public pension projected expenditures have been associated with “crowding-in” of private savings.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: 8 May, 2017 (Monday)

Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm (Registration at 11:30am)

Venue: SMU School of Economics, Level 5, Seminar Room 5.1

  90 Stamford Road, Singapore 178903 (Click here for map)

SPEAKER

Professor Ian Tonks

Professor of Finance, School of Management

University of Bath, UK

SPEAKER'S PROFILE

Ian Tonks is a Professor of Finance in the School of Management at the University of Bath. His research focuses on pension economics; fund manager performance; directors’ trading; and market microstructure.

He has published in leading finance, economics, accounting and management journals, and teaches across all areas of financial economics including asset pricing, corporate finance, market efficiency and performance measurement.

He is an associate member of the Financial Markets Group, Centre for Market and Public Organisation, Pensions Institute and Netspar. He is a member of the ESRC’s Grant Advisory Panel; is Vice-Chair of the UK’s Conference of Professors of Accounting and Finance; and was a member of sub-panel 19 Business and Management, for REF2014. He has acted as an expert witness in a legal case on financial regulation, and has provided advice to a number of commercial and regulatory organisations including the London Stock Exchange, the Competition Commission, and the Financial Services Authority, and has advised the Department of Work and Pensions, the Bank of England, and the House of Commons Select Committee on issues in pensions.

REGISTRATION

Free admission

Please email Qing Qing (qqlu@smu.edu.sg) by 2 May, 6pm to register. 

Seats are on a first-come, first-served basis.