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Learning to save in a voluntary pension system: toward an agent-based model

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  • Balázs Király

    (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

  • András Simonovits

    (Hungarian Academy of Sciences also Mathematical Institute, Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

Abstract

Mandatory pension systems partially replace old-age income, therefore the government matches additional life-cycle savings in a voluntary pension system. Though the individual saving decisions are apparently independent, the earmarked taxes (paid to finance the matching) connect them. Previous models either neglected the endogenous tax expenditures (e.g. Choi et al., in: Wise (ed) Perspectives in the economics of aging, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 81–121, 2004) or assumed very sophisticated saving strategies (e.g. Fehr et al. in FinanzArchiv Pub Finance Anal 64:171–198, 2008). We create twin models: myopic workers learn (i) from farsighted workers using public information (analytic model) and (ii) also from each other (agent-based model). These models provide more realistic results on saving behavior and the impact of matching on the income redistribution than the earlier models.

Suggested Citation

  • Balázs Király & András Simonovits, 2019. "Learning to save in a voluntary pension system: toward an agent-based model," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 14(1), pages 121-145, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jeicoo:v:14:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11403-018-0218-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11403-018-0218-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Davide Bazzana, 2020. "Ageing population and pension system sustainability: reforms and redistributive implications," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 971-992, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life-cycle savings; Overlapping generations; Mandatory pensions; Voluntary pensions; Agent-based models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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