Las decisiones financieras de las familias españolas: participación en esquemas privados de pensiones e inversión en activos financieros con riesgo

Las finanzas familiares o de los hogares tradicionalmente fueron relegadas en favor de las finanzas corporativas, pero en los últimos años, el interés que han suscitado las finanzas familiares ha ido en aumento, como resultado, entre otros aspectos, de la creciente necesidad de formalizar instrumentos de ahorro complementarios de cara a la jubilación. Ocurre que la mayoría de países occidentales enfrentan un creciente proceso de envejecimiento demográfico, que junto con las recientes tendencias socio-económicas e institucionales, ponen en cuestión la sostenibilidad de los sistemas públicos de pensiones y sitúan al individuo como responsable principal de la planificación financiera de su jubilación. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo principal el análisis de los factores individuales que determinan la participación y el volumen de contribuciones en planes individuales de pensiones y en activos financieros con riesgo por parte de la población española. Una vez establecido el marco teórico de investigación para el análisis del ahorro financiero e identificados los potenciales factores que la literatura señala como determinantes de este, se procede a la realización de diferentes análisis multivariantes con datos procedentes de la Encuesta Financiera de las Familias (y puntualmente, la Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), para a partir de la confirmación empírica de los factores, proponer recomendaciones políticas más efectivas destinadas a fomentar el ahorro financiero de los hogares (Badunenko et al., 2009)

Impact of working capital management on profitability for Spanish fish canning companies

Credit restrictions, such as those happening in the current context shaped by the crisis derived from COVID-19, make working capital management (WCM) a driving force behind SME performance. This paper analyses whether WCM policies affect the economic and financial profitability of Spanish companies in the fish canning industry. Spain leads the EU’s production of canned seafood and the seafood industry is a key sector for the Spanish economy. To assess the WCM-profitability relationship, we applied a dynamic panel data methodology in a sample consisting of 377 companies during the period 2010–2018. We can conclude that the economic profitability of fish canning companies is related to the collection period (Days Sales Outstanding or DSO) and the inventory conversion period (Days Inventory Outstanding or DIO). Moreover, empirical evidence reveals the existence of an optimal level of receivables that balances the benefits of increasing sales and the opportunity costs of customer funding. The findings also identify a convex relationship between investment in inventory and economic profitabilityS

The influence of sociability over non-mortgage debt

In recent years, especially after the recent economic downturn, household debt has increased in importance, due to its influence on the economy in general and on households’ wellbeing in particular. Therefore, the study of household debt turns out to be necessary in order to know what leads to its demand, and thus to avoid situations of over-indebtedness. In this regard, previous research has analysed debt decisions from different approaches, however, the effect of individuals’ sociability has been neglected in literature. To this end, the aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of sociability on the Europeans’ decision to incur non-mortgage debt. The study sample, taken from the sixth wave (year 2015) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, consists of 68,231 people from 18 European countries and also Israel. After applying probit binomial models, empirical evidence confirms the non-negligible effect of sociability on households’ non-mortgage debts. However, this effect depends on the underlying mechanisms through which sociability operates. Thus, when the sociability variable reflects learning based on the transmission of information (or 'word of mouth'), its influence over non-mortgage debt is positive, whereas when sociability reflects learning based on observation, the effect is negativeS

Does self-control constitute a driver of millennials’ financial behaviors and attitudes?

[Abstract] Millennials are currently facing particular financial challenges that will condition the future financial well-being of the society as a whole, and the decision-making process happening in worse circumstances than those of preceding generations. However, few studies to date have deeply analyzed millennials’ financial behaviors, and particularly, how self-control operationalizes their financial choices. Using data from the 2017 Survey of Financial Competences of Spanish individuals, this paper analyzes how self-control influences different financial behaviors and attitudes and whether this effect differs between millennials and older generations. The results indicate that self-control does influence the individuals’ financial attitudes regardless of generation, whereas in the case of financial behaviors, only those millennials exhibiting the highest levels of self-control are affected by it when deciding on a saving account or a personal loan. These outcomes have numerous significant implications, in addition to providing recommendations to policy makers aimed at engaging millennials in healthier financial behaviors

Self-control and debt decisions relationship: evidence for different credit options

In recent years, households have become increasingly indebted, which constitutes a matter of concern. Based on a sample from the Spanish Survey of Financial Competences, this paper examines the relationship between self-control and consumer borrowing behaviour and, in so doing, it proposes a new multi-item scale of individual’s self-control in financial matters and considers several types of consumer debt, thus overcoming the main gaps identified in previous research. Empirical evidence reveals that, overall, self-control problems lead to more indebtedness. However, comprehensive analyses have demonstrated that the influence of self-control differs across an exhaustive range of credit options. In this regard, the lack of self-control increases the probability of taking out unsecured personal loans, loans from family or friends, and credit card use. Evidence suggests that individuals’ first impulse leads them to ask their social circle for a loan. Overall, individuals might be tempted to get indebted when they cannot make ends meet. However, this first impulse usually faces barriers from the supply perspective, so the evidence suggests that the effect of self-control on borrowing decisions might be shaped not only by the demand side of credit but also by the supply oneOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer NatureS

Una experiencia de gamificación en la introducción a la gestión empresarial

[Resumen] La creación del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior ha traído consigo la necesidad de crear y desarrollar metodologías docentes más activas e innovadoras, que convierten al alumnado en protagonista activo de su proceso de aprendizaje y apuestan por un aprendizaje comprensivo, centrado no solo en la adquisición de conocimientos, sino también de habilidades y competencias. Una de estas metodologías innovadoras es la gamificación, que consiste en la aplicación de juegos fuera de contextos lúdicos, como pueden ser los educativos, y que ha demostrado ser una herramienta eficaz en la motivación del alumnado universitario. Es por ello que este capítulo presenta una experiencia de gamificación, en particular centrada en la aplicación de un juego de rol en materias de introducción a la gestión empresarial. El juego consiste en formar diferentes grupos de estudiantes que constituirán empresas que competirán entre sí -convirtiendo así el aula en un mercado- y deberán tomar diferentes decisiones empresariales encaminadas a maximizar el beneficio empresarial. Los resultados de la experiencia revelan que ésta contribuye al refuerzo de los conocimientos teóricos desarrollados en el aula, a la mejora de competencias como el trabajo en equipo o la toma de decisiones, o a favorecer la motivación del alumnado.[Abstract] The creation of the European Higher Education Area has brought about the need to create and develop more active and innovative teaching methodologies, which adopt a student-centred learning approach and are committed to comprehensive or holistic learning, thus not only focusing on the acquisition of knowledge, but also on the acquisition of skills and competences. One of these innovative methodologies is gamification, which consists of the application of game design elements outside their scope, such as learning environments, and which has proven to be an effective tool for motivating university students. This chapter presents a gamification experience, focused on the application of role-playing in the courses of introduction to business management. The role-playing consists of dividing the class into different groups, constituting each group a different company. The companies created will compete with each other, thus turning the classroom into a marketplace, and they will have to make different business decisions aimed at maximizing business profits. The evidence of the experience reveals that it contributes to the reinforcement of the theoretical knowledge developed in the classroom, to the improvement of competences such as teamwork or decision-making, as well as to the increase of student motivation.http://hdl.handle.net/2183/2879

The effect of self-control upon participation in voluntary pension schemes

Population ageing, together with the recent economic downturn and its aftermath, are giving considerable cause for concern as regards the future sustainability of public pension systems. Voluntary pension schemes emerge here as an alternative to supplement the public pension pillar, and therefore, understanding how individuals make their financial decisions when participating in voluntary pension schemes becomes a question of key importance. There is a growing literature aimed at analysing this issue, but few studies to date have analysed the effect of behavioural traits on participation in voluntary pension schemes. Particularly, an analysis of the effect of self-control on this financial decision will be the aim of this paper. Based on data from the International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy, this paper analyses, through probit regression models, the effect of financial self-control, besides other control variables, e.g., gender, on the holding of financial assets for retirement savings. Empirical evidence reveals that higher levels of financial self-control are positively associated with saving for retirement. Moreover, when this variable is considered, the statistically significant effect of other driving forces traditionally highlighted by previous literature disappears. Therefore, our empirical evidence supports the need to consider behavioural issues in explaining individuals’ financial decisionsS

European stockholding: is there a gender gap?

This research analyzes the individual determinants of the decision to participate in the stock market in eight European countries - France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, on a sample of 6,036 individuals, aged between 18-65 years. The data used in the empirical analysis comes from the study “The EU Market for Consumer Long Term Retail Saving Vehicles. Comparative Analysis of Products, Market Structure, Costs, Distribution Systems and Consumer Saving Patterns”, carried out by the European Commission in 2007. The main focus of this paper consists of analyzing the potential gender gap in stock market participation while it includes socioeconomic variables that have already been studied in the prior financial literature focused on other countries, as well as behavioral determinants that have not been analyzed in depth so far. The results highlight that stock market participation in the countries above mentioned. Issues positively related to this research involves: peoples age, being male, having university studies, income, influence of financial advice and willingness to risk; and a negatively related issue is seeking of financial advice and general trust. Besides, it is important the existence of institutional country factors that influence the investors’ attitudes toward stockholding. Esta investigación analiza los determinantes individuales de la decisión de participar en el mercado de valores en ocho países europeos - Francia, Alemania, Italia, Países Bajos, Polonia, España, Suecia y el Reino Unido- sobre una muestra de 6.036 individuos con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 65 años. Los datos utilizados en el análisis empírico provienen del estudio The EU Market for Consumer Long Term Retail Saving Vehicles. Comparative Analysis of Products, Market Structure, Costs, Distribution Systems and Consumer Saving Patterns, llevado a cabo por la Comisión Europea en el año 2007. Esta investigación considera tanto variables socioeconómicas previamente analizadas en la literatura financiera referida a otros países, como nuevas variables que pueden actuar como determinantes del comportamiento y que no han sido analizados en profundidad hasta ahora. En cualquier caso, el presente estudio hace especial énfasis en el estudio de las diferencias de género. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que la participación de mercado de valores en los países antes mencionados se relaciona positivamente con la edad, el género masculino, la tenencia de los estudios universitarios, los ingresos, la influencia del asesoramiento financiero y la asunción de riesgos; y negativamente con la búsqueda de asesoramiento financiero y la confianza general. Además, se constata la existencia de factores institucionales que influyen en las actitudes hacia el mercado valores de quienes invierten