Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/230491 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
ISER Discussion Paper No. 1087
Publisher: 
Osaka University, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), Osaka
Abstract: 
In this paper, we analyze the wealth accumulation and saving behavior of the retired elderly in Italy using micro data from the "Survey of Italian Households' Income and Wealth," a panel survey of households conducted every two years by the Bank of Italy. We find that, on average, the retired elderly in Italy are decumulating their wealth (dissaving) but that their wealth decumulation rates are much slower than expected. Moreover, we also find that more than 40 percent of the retired elderly in Italy are continuing to accumulate wealth and that more than 80 percent are doing positive amounts of saving. Thus, the Wealth Decumulation Puzzle (the tendency of the retired elderly to decumulate their wealth more slowly than expected) appears to apply in the case of Italy, as it does in most other countries, before as well as after the Global Financial Crisis. Moreover, our regression analysis of the determinants of the wealth accumulation and saving behavior of the retired elderly in Italy suggests that the lower than expected wealth decumulation rates and dissaving of the retired elderly in Italy is due largely to intergenerational transfers (bequests and inter vivos transfers) and saving for precautionary purposes, especially the former.
Subjects: 
Aged
bequests
bequest intentions
bequest motive
dissaving
elderly
estates
household saving
Italy
inheritances
inter vivos transfers
intergenerational transfers
life-cycle hypothesis
life-cycle model
life-cycle theory
precautionary saving
retiredelderly
saving
wealth
wealth accumulation
wealth decumulation
wealth decumulationpuzzle
JEL: 
D12
D14
D15
D64
E21
J14
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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