Retirement saving and attitude towards financial intermediaries – Evidence for Germany

People often disregard the need for individual savings for old-age although a decreasing rate of birth and an increasing life expectancy make it necessary to save additional money for retirement by using private or occupational pensions. Due to a lack of financial literacy and a variety of products it is important that people consult financial intermediaries like banks and insurance companies which support their savings plans. We apply the behavioral life-cycle hypothesis to explain whether people of different socioeconomic attributes contact diverse financial intermediaries and which motives promote this consultancy. To answer those and other questions on differences in consulting behavior of financial intermediaries Probit regressions are used. We find that income, low risk aversion and the presence of banks in the local surrounding have a large impact on oldage savings behavior. Our results differ across intermediary groups. They have important policy implications as better financial literacy and enhanced consulting activities may cause less old-age poverty and more trust in the financial system.life-cycle hypothesis, pension savings, financial intermediaries, financial literacy

Determinants of Occupational Pension Provision in Germany

Demographic change causes an undersupply of financial old age benefits within the statutory pay-as-you-go pension system in Germany. Therefore, the provision of occupational as well as private pensions has to be enhanced. However, there seems to be an undersupply of occupational pension provision particularly in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Using survey data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and the German SAVE survey, the present paper studies econometrically the determinants of occupational pension provision in Germany. It shows that occupational pensions depend not only on supply-side factors such as firm size and industry, but also on demand-side factors such as individual socio- demographic attributes and people's savings motives.Occupational Pensions, Retirement Provision, Demographic Change, SMEs

What Determines the Demand for Occupational Pensions in Germany?

Demographic change causes an undersupply of financial old age benefits within the statutory pay-as-you-go pension system in Germany. Therefore, the provision of occupational as well as private pensions has to be enhanced. However, there seems to be an undersupply of occupational pension provision particularly in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Using survey data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and the German SAVE survey, the present paper studies econometrically the determinants of occupational pension provision in Germany. It shows that occupational pensions depend not only on supply-side factors such as firm size and industry, but also on demand-side factors such as individual socio-demographic attributes and people's savings motives.Occupational Pensions, Retirement Provision, Demographic Change, SMEs

Composition of Supervisory Boards in Germany: Inside or Outside Control of Banks?

This paper examines the composition of supervisory boards of German banks for a sample of 41 large banks in the period 1999-2006. We find that the supervisory board structure reflects both outside control by shareholders and inside control by stakeholders. Most of the non-employee board members are representatives of other banks and industrial companies. The high presence of former executives and German board members indicates inside control. In banks controlled by other banks or insurance companies it is less likely that the chairperson of the supervisory board is a former executive of the same bank. Over time, inside networking through the supervisory board decreased.corporate governance, dual board system, principal agent theory, stakeholder theory, banks

Experimental and numerical study of droplets hydrodynamics in microchannels

This paper reports on numerical simulations and experimental validation of the hydrodynamics of liquid-liquid flow in rectangular micro-channels. The numerical method is an interface-capturing technique without any interface reconstruction. Micro-PIV measurements are used to obtain experimental velocity fields inside droplets which are compared to simulations. Finally, injecting a passive tracer in the simulated droplets also helps to obtain a better understanding of the mixing phenomenon. These results allow interpreting mixing defaults during bleaching experiments inside micro-droplets. Furthermore, this study leads to important results about interface deformation and velocity fields inside the droplets and in the continuous phase for mass and heat transfer studies