Who is saving privately for retirement and how much? New evidence for Germany

Due to demographic change, the replacement rates of the German statutory pension scheme will decrease over the next decades. Voluntary savings for retirement will therefore increase in relevance as a method of maintaining one’s standard of living during retirement. This article examines the savings behavior for retirement on an individual level in Germany at the extensive as well as the intensive margin. First, the decision to save in general is analyzed, showing that the main determinants for saving are personal income and disposable household income. Furthermore, it is shown that migrants and individuals living in the Eastern part of Germany turn out to be less likely to have additional private savings. Second, the chosen gross saving rates are analyzed using a Tobit model, a log-normal hurdle model and a Type II Tobit model. The results suggest that the decision to save in general, as well as the saving rate, are independent of each other, leading to a loss of information if only a standard Tobit model is used. For example, higher personal income increases the probability to save for retirement, but decreases the resulting saving rate. Modeling both decisions separately thus, leads to a better understanding of the determinants of saving for old-age.     

政府投资公益性项目全过程风险研究

政府投资公益性项目组织关系复杂,参与主体众多。为降低项目风险、减少损失以及控制成本,基于风险管理和全生命周期管理理论,首先对公益性项目各阶段风险事件进行识别以及风险因素和其所属主体进行分析;通过构建了公益性项目全过程风险管理体系,并运用故障树分析（FTA）方法对全过程风险进行定性和定量分析。研究表明：在公益性项目全生命周期内,项目外部环境、计划制定不合理、运营管理方式不当、项目维护不当、业主方管理不当等因素是导致政府投资项目风险事件的主要因素,基于此提出相应的风险应对措施,同时为政府投资决策提供了更丰富的信息。     

Demographics,Monetary Policy,and the Zero Lower Bound

We develop a New Keynesian life-cycle model to assess the importance of population aging for monetary policy. The model successfully matches the age profiles of consumption-savings decisions made by European households. It implies that demographic trends contribute significantly to the decline of the natural rate of interest (NRI) and potential output growth, and exacerbate the risk of hitting the zero lower bound (ZLB), given the current inflation targets. Under a realistic assumption that the central bank updates its estimates of the NRI only with some lag, aging may additionally lead to a sizable and persistent deflationary bias, elevating the ZLB risk even further.