Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Economics (10)
- Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration (3)
- Public Policy (3)
- Sociology (3)
- Family, Life Course, and Society (2)
-
- Gerontology (2)
- Law (2)
- Retirement Security Law (2)
- Arts and Humanities (1)
- Economic Policy (1)
- Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (1)
- Gender and Sexuality (1)
- Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration (1)
- Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation (1)
- Race and Ethnicity (1)
- Social Policy (1)
- Women's Studies (1)
- Keyword
-
- Retirement savings (3)
- Interest rates (2)
- Investment risks (2)
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (1)
- Bank credit (1)
-
- Costs of debt (1)
- Credit access (1)
- Debt payments (1)
- Discrimination (1)
- Earnings volatility (1)
- Economic stability (1)
- Financial deregulation (1)
- Financial risks (1)
- Fiscal balances (1)
- Government revenue (1)
- Home equity (1)
- Household credit (1)
- Household debt (1)
- Income inequality (1)
- Individual accounts (1)
- Job creation (1)
- Labor rights (1)
- Loan denials (1)
- Long-term growth (1)
- Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office (1)
- Mortgage payments (1)
- Mortgages (1)
- Personal saving (1)
- Portfolio allocation (1)
- Private sector (1)
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Fun With Numbers: Disclosing Risk To Individual Investors, Christian A. Weller
Fun With Numbers: Disclosing Risk To Individual Investors, Christian A. Weller
Christian Weller
This paper discusses the need for better information on investment risks. The information should be relevant, concise, and accessible to individual investors. More and better information on factors that are likely to influence an investment’s performance and investors’ decisions should eventually lead to better investment decisions – more savings and higher retirement incomes. This paper presents a number of ways to disclose risk to individual investors. There are three numerical and three visual representations to risk. The discussion centers on the pros and cons of each risk representation. All risk descriptions show relevant information, are concise, and more or less …
Can Progressive Taxation Contribute To Economic Development?, Christian E. Weller, Manita Rao
Can Progressive Taxation Contribute To Economic Development?, Christian E. Weller, Manita Rao
Christian Weller
Financial instability has increased for many economies in the face of greater capital mobility. Eliminating capital flows, especially portfolio investment flows, may reduce volatility, but it could also result in domestic capital constraints. To overcome this dilemma, policymakers may consider alternatives, such as progressive income taxation, that could raise domestic funds. In this paper, we combine several macro economic data sources to test the link between progressive taxation and economic stability, economic growth, inequality and fiscal policy. Based on data from 1981 to 2002, we find that progressive taxation provides policymakers with the ability to conduct countercyclical fiscal policies, which …
The Interplay Between Labor And Financial Markets: What Are The Implications For Defined Contribution Accounts?, Christian E. Weller, Jeffrey B. Wenger
The Interplay Between Labor And Financial Markets: What Are The Implications For Defined Contribution Accounts?, Christian E. Weller, Jeffrey B. Wenger
Christian Weller
The relationship between earnings, savings and retirement is well-known, however the linkage between labor market outcomes and financial market performance is generally unacknowledged. We examine the implications of the link between labor markets and financial markets for workers who save money in individual retirement accounts. Specifically, differences in labor market outcomes across groups may imply differences in the timing of investments, which may reduce savings over time for these groups compared to their counterparts. Using monthly data from the Current Population Survey (1979-2002) we generate hypothetical investment portfolios using stock and bond indices. We exploit differences across demographic groups in …
Credit Access, The Costs Of Credit And Credit Market Discrimination, Christian E. Weller
Credit Access, The Costs Of Credit And Credit Market Discrimination, Christian E. Weller
Christian Weller
Since the early 1990s, credit expanded relative to income, especially after 2001. It is hypothesized that traditionally uneven credit access and gaps in the costs of credit by demographic characteristics shrank during this period. Relying on data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finance, this study looks at financial constraints, the costs of credit and a number of contributions to the costs of credit, including sources and types of loans. The results indicate that taste-based discrimination and structural discrimination may have persisted and possibly increased over time. Gaps in credit access and costs of credit have widened by race, …
Have Differences In Credit Access Diminished In An Era Of Financial Market Deregulation?, Christian E. Weller
Have Differences In Credit Access Diminished In An Era Of Financial Market Deregulation?, Christian E. Weller
Christian Weller
Over the past few decades, financial markets became increasingly deregulated and household debt expanded, sometimes rapidly. It is thus possible that greater deregulation led to improved credit access for typically underserved groups, such as minorities and low-income families, relative to their counterparts. Credit access is measured here by loan denials, discouraged applications, and costs of credit. Based on data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey Consumer Finances and using multivariate tests, there is no clear trend, though, towards equalization of credit access from 1989 to 2004. Specifically, gaps in loan denials and discouraged applications only improved for Hispanics relative to Whites. …
States To The Rescue: Policy Options For State Government To Promote Private Sector Retirement Savings, Christian A. Weller, Amy Helburn
States To The Rescue: Policy Options For State Government To Promote Private Sector Retirement Savings, Christian A. Weller, Amy Helburn
Christian Weller
We provide an overview of retirement plan proposals that could be implemented at the state level. All aim to increase participation in retirement savings, mainly by lowering the cost of doing so and possibly by offering some employer or government matches to employee contributions. The proposals vary widely on how much risk employees are exposed to. Some proposals leave most of the risks of saving for retirement – investment, market, and longevity risk – with the employee, while others try to eliminate them all. The tools of risk management range from well-diversified index funds and default investments to required offers …
Demographic Analysis Of Recovery Act Supported Jobs In Massachusetts, Quarters 1 And 2, 2010, David Sparks, Paige Ransford, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Christian Weller, Meryl Thomson, Robert Turner
Demographic Analysis Of Recovery Act Supported Jobs In Massachusetts, Quarters 1 And 2, 2010, David Sparks, Paige Ransford, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Christian Weller, Meryl Thomson, Robert Turner
Christian Weller
Massachusetts policy makers decided to go beyond existing ARRA federal reporting requirements and collect additional data in order to gauge the effectiveness of ARRA’s fiscal policy by counting the number of individuals who have received an ARRA-funded paycheck. In addition, policy makers wanted to look at some of the demographic characteristics of this population. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the data that the MA Recovery Office collected during the first and second quarters of 2010, with a particular focus on job creation and retention by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, and geographic location. Highlights of the report include: …
Could International Labor Rights Play A Role In U.S. Trade?, Christian E. Weller
Could International Labor Rights Play A Role In U.S. Trade?, Christian E. Weller
Christian Weller
During its last complete business cycle, from 2001 to 2007, the United States experienced unsustainably high trade deficits. Policymakers are considering a number of measures to avoid a recurrence of such large external imbalances. One such measure is the promotion of better labor rights around the world. Proponents argue that higher labor standards would boost U.S. exports by increasing income growth abroad and reduce U.S. imports by shrinking international price differences. Opponents of such a policy move argue that it is disguised protectionism that will impede trade and harm living standards in the United States and abroad. In this paper, …
Public Policy Options To Build Wealth For America’S Middle Class, Christian E. Weller, Amy Helburn
Public Policy Options To Build Wealth For America’S Middle Class, Christian E. Weller, Amy Helburn
Christian Weller
No abstract provided.
Desperate Vs. Deadbeat: Can We Quantify The Effect Of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act Of 2005?, Christian Weller, Bernard J. Morzuch, Amanda Logan
Desperate Vs. Deadbeat: Can We Quantify The Effect Of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act Of 2005?, Christian Weller, Bernard J. Morzuch, Amanda Logan
Christian Weller
No abstract provided.
Prudent Investors: The Asset Allocation Of Public Pension Plans, Christian E. Weller, Jeffrey B. Wenger
Prudent Investors: The Asset Allocation Of Public Pension Plans, Christian E. Weller, Jeffrey B. Wenger
Christian Weller
After 2000, the vast majority of defined benefit (DB) pension plans encountered a decrease in their funding ratios, largely due to a drop in asset prices. It is possible that public sector pension plans may have acted imprudently by chasing returns, once they encountered underfunding. We identify four indicators for DB plans’ imprudent investment behavior: no portfolio rebalancing, employer conflicts of interest, trustee conflicts of interest, and failure to implement best investment practices. To see if public sector pension plans rebalance their portfolios, we use data from the Federal Reserve’s Flow of Funds, dating from 1952 to 2007. To test …
Changes In Homeowners’ Financial Security During The Recent Housing And Mortgage Boom, Christian Weller, Kate Sabatini
Changes In Homeowners’ Financial Security During The Recent Housing And Mortgage Boom, Christian Weller, Kate Sabatini
Christian Weller
From the late 1990s through 2005, the U.S. experienced an unprecedented housing boom, which boosted the asset values of many families. This meant, on the one hand, that families with homes had more collateral to borrow against, but it also meant that new home buyers needed to take out larger mortgages to afford a home. After 2001, the U.S. saw a sharp acceleration in the growth rate of household debt. Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances conducted by the Federal Reserve, which we supplement with data from the Flow of Funds Accounts generated by the Federal Reserve, we …
Did Retirees Save Enough To Compensate For The Increase In Individual Risk Exposure?, Christian E. Weller
Did Retirees Save Enough To Compensate For The Increase In Individual Risk Exposure?, Christian E. Weller
Christian Weller
The United States experienced an unprecedented financial crisis after 2007. This paper analyzes if retirees had enough wealth built up to weather the financial risks that materialized in the crisis. Financial risks associated with saving for retirement had increasingly shifted onto individuals away from the public and employers during the decades before the crisis. This growing personal responsibility should have gone along with more saving and less risk taking. I use data from the Federal Reserve’s triennial Survey of Consumer Finances to first define an income threshold for retirees, specifically whether annuity income is greater than twice the poverty line …