IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mod/wcefin/0072.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Why choosing dominated personal pension plans: sales force and financial literacy effects

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Marotta

Abstract

We investigate the puzzle of choices of dominated personal pension instruments in Italy, with insurers’ products (PIPs) much more subscribed than shares of open pension funds offered by banks (FPAs). We find evidence, using the three waves of Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) between 2010 and 2014, of a sales force effect deriving from a network of post offices and independent financial advisors associated with insurance companies much more widespread than bank branches. We document that financial literacy has a significant dampening effect on the supply push factor only for PIPs, and especially for the subset with voluntary matching employers’ contributions. The effect is detected mostly in the 2014 SHIW wave, the one fully affected by the implementation of the pension system reform legislated in December 2011.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Marotta, 2018. "Why choosing dominated personal pension plans: sales force and financial literacy effects," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0072, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    • Handle: RePEc:mod:wcefin:0072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://155.185.68.2/CefinPaper/CEFIN-WP72.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luigi Guiso & Eliana Viviano, 2015. "How Much Can Financial Literacy Help?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(4), pages 1347-1382.
    2. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    3. Calcagno, Riccardo & Monticone, Chiara, 2015. "Financial literacy and the demand for financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 363-380.
    4. Davide Ferrari & Sandra Paterlini, 2009. "The Maximum Lq-Likelihood Method: An Application to Extreme Quantile Estimation in Finance," Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 3-19, March.
    5. Elsa Fornero & Mariacristina Rossi & Cesira Urzì Brancati, 2018. "“Information and perceptions on pensions. The case of the 2011 Italian reform"," CeRP Working Papers 176, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy).
    6. Thiemo Krink & Sandra Paterlini, 2008. "Differential Evolution for Multiobjective Portfolio Optimization," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 021, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    7. Fornero, Elsa & Monticone, Chiara, 2011. "Financial literacy and pension plan participation in Italy," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 547-564, October.
    8. Angela A. Hung & Andrew M. Parker & Joanne K. Yoong, 2009. "Defining and Measuring Financial Literacy," Working Papers WR-708, RAND Corporation.
    9. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2011. "Financial literacy around the world: an overview," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 497-508, October.
    10. Guiso, Luigi & Sodini, Paolo, 2013. "Household Finance: An Emerging Field," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1397-1532, Elsevier.
    11. Marianna Brunetti, 2007. "Population Ageing, Household Portfolios and Financial Asset Returns: a Survey of the Literature," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 171-208.
    12. Chiara Pederzoli, 2007. "Default risk: Poisson mixture and the business cycle," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0002, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    13. Riccardo Calcagno & Chiara Monticone, 2015. "Financial Literacy and the Demand for Financial Advice," Post-Print hal-02313173, HAL.
    14. Chiara Pederzoli, 2007. "Default risk: Poisson mixture and the business cycle," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 07052, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    15. Silvia Muzzioli, 2007. "The relation between implied and realised volatility: are call options more informative than put options? Evidence from the DAX index options market," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0004, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    16. Umit G. Gurun & Gregor Matvos & Amit Seru, 2016. "Advertising Expensive Mortgages," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2371-2416, October.
    17. Elisa Luciano & Mariacristina Rossi & Dario Sansone, 2016. "Financial Inclusion and Life Insurance Demand; Evidence from Italian households," CeRP Working Papers 156, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy).
    18. Francesco Pattarin, 2018. "Spending Policies of Italian Banking Foundations," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0071, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    19. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2013. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, volume 2, number 2-b.
    20. Justine Hastings & Ali Hortaçsu & Chad Syverson, 2017. "Sales Force and Competition in Financial Product Markets: The Case of Mexico's Social Security Privatization," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85(6), pages 1723-1761, November.
    21. Finseraas, Henning & Jakobsson, Niklas, 2014. "Does information about the pension system affect knowledge and retirement plans? Evidence from a survey experiment," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 250-271, July.
    22. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2013. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, volume 2, number 2-a.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beatrice Bertelli & Gianna Boero & Costanza Torricelli, 2021. "The market price of greenness A factor pricing approach for Green Bonds," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0083, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    2. Marianna Brunetti & Roberta De Luca, 2023. "Pre-selection in cointegration-based pairs trading," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 32(5), pages 1611-1640, December.
    3. Costanza Torricelli & Eleonora Pellati, 2022. "Social Bonds and the “Social Premiumâ€," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0085, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    4. Chiara Pederzoli & Costanza Torricelli, 2019. "The impact of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book: A preliminary assessment on a stylized portfolio," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0075, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    5. Costanza Torricelli & Fabio Ferrari, 2022. "Climate Stress Test: bad (or good) news for the market? An Event Study Analysis on Euro Zone Banks," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0086, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    6. Costanza Torricelli & Beatrice Bertelli, 2022. "ESG compliant optimal portfolios: The impact of ESG constraints on portfolio optimization in a sample of European stocks," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0088, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    7. Francesca Arnaboldi, Francesca Gioia, 2019. "Portfolio choice: Evidence from new-borns," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0078, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marotta, Giuseppe, 2020. "Behind the success of dominated personal pension plans: sales force and financial literacy factors," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 532-547, October.
    2. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    3. Francesca Arnaboldi, Francesca Gioia, 2019. "Portfolio choice: Evidence from new-borns," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0078, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    4. Georgios A. Panos & Tatja Karkkainen & Adele Atkinson, 2020. "Financial Literacy and Attitudes to Cryptocurrencies," Working Papers 2020_26, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. Stefano Cosma & Francesco Pattarin, 2012. "Attitudes, personality factors and household debt decisions: A study of consumer credit," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 12021, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    6. Yaldız Hanedar, Elmas & Broccardo, Eleonora & Bazzana, Flavio, 2014. "Collateral requirements of SMEs: The evidence from less-developed countries," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 106-121.
    7. Dean Altshuler & Carlo Alberto Magni, 2015. "Introducing Aggregate Return on Investment as a Solution to the Contradiction Between Some PME Metrics and IRR," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0056, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    8. Valeria Venturelli & Giovanni Gallo & Alessia Pedrazzoli, 2019. "Birds of a feather flock together and get money from the crowd," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0080, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    9. Carlo Alberto Magni, 2010. "Average Internal Rate of Return and investment decisions: A new perspective," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0021, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    10. Gianfranco Gianfelice & Giuseppe Marotta & Costanza Torricelli, 2015. "A liquidity risk index as a regulatory tool for systemically important banks? An empirical assessment across two financial crises," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 129-147, January.
    11. Elisabetta Gualandri & Enzo Mangone & Aldo Stanziale, 2011. "Internal Corporate Governance and the Financial Crisis: Lessons for Banks,Regulators and Supervisors," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0029, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    12. Marianna Brunetti & Elena Giarda & Costanza Torricelli, 2020. "Financial Fragility across Europe and the US: The Role of Portfolio Choices, Household Features and Economic-institutional Setup," CEIS Research Paper 487, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 28 May 2020.
    13. Li, Xiao, 2020. "When financial literacy meets textual analysis: A conceptual review," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    14. Elmas Yaldiz Hanedar & Eleonora Broccardo & Flavio Bazzana, 2012. "Collateral Requirements of SMEs:The Evidence from Less–Developed Countries," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0034, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    15. Delis, Manthos & Galariotis, Emilios & Monne, Jerome, 2021. "Economic condition and financial cognition," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    16. Chiara Pederzoli & Costanza Torricelli, 2019. "The impact of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book: A preliminary assessment on a stylized portfolio," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0075, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    17. Gianfranco Gianfelice & Giuseppe Marotta & Costanza Torricelli, 2015. "A liquidity risk index as a regulatory tool for systemically important banks? An empirical assessment across two financial crises," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 129-147, January.
    18. Stefano Cosma & Francesco Pattarin, 2012. "Attitudes, personality factors and household debt decisions: A study of consumer credit," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0031, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    19. Elisabetta Gualandri & Mario Noera, 2014. "Towards A Macroprudential Policy In The Eu: Main Issues," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0049, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    20. Elena Giarda & Gloria Moroni, 2018. "The Degree of Poverty Persistence and the Role of Regional Disparities in Italy in Comparison with France, Spain and the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 163-202, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pension system reform; Financial literacy; Retail financial products distribution; Italy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mod:wcefin:0072. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Giuseppe Marotta (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/demodit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.