Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-168). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-168). Also available on the Internet.

This dissertation studies different Unemployment Insurance (UI) systems and how critical design and institutional features affect individual behavior. In the first chapter, I analyze the UI system in Chile, whose benefits are primarily financed by work- ers’ own savings in Individual Savings Accounts (ISA). In 2002 Chile implemented a mandatory savings system for the formal labor sector. Every worker accumulates funds to be withdrawn in future unemployment spells, accompanied by a Solidarity Fund (SF) that may provide benefit extensions in case of low savings balances. Using administrative records of the Chilean formal labor market, I exploit the SF extension’s eligibility conditions to identify its effect on nonemployment duration. I estimate a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) that uses the eligibility for SF extension as an instrument for its take-up. Results show that an additional potential monthly installment financed by the SF extension increases nonemployment durations by 11.4 days, similar to what the literature documents for other developing economies. The second chapter builds on the previous one by empirically examining the im- pact of an additional monthly installment of UI benefits financed by ISAs. I implement a dynamic panel data model with individual fixed effects controlling for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Using this empirical strategy, I find that nonemployment durations, on average, increase by 5.1 days when the unemployed have an additional monthly payment financed by their savings. Finally, I combine these two reduced-form outcomes to perform a decomposition of the disincentive effect of a more generous UI system funded by general taxes. Job search effort is depressed via a substitution effect when UI benefits increase (moral hazard). Still, there is also an incentive to exert less effort because the household’s consumption is sensitive to cash-on-hand (liquidity effect). I extend the existing literature by proposing a ratio pertinent to a system based on ISA that measures the liquidity effect over the total disincentive effect. Results show that around one-third to one-half of the negative impact of a UI extension on job search effort can be attributed to moral hazard, which this design of UI system eliminates. In the 1990s, Germany saw a massive rise in unemployment of workers in their late 50s compared to younger workers. In the third chapter (joint with Matthew Gudgeon, Johannes Schmieder, Simon Trenkle, and Han Ye), we show that a large share of this increase can be explained by the interaction of UI and the retirement system, where UI benefits affect labor supply by inducing individuals to leave employment. We show considerable bunching in UI inflows at age thresholds that allow for using UI as a bridge to early retirement. The bunching mass moves as the age threshold moves due to reforms of the UI system. To quantify the impact of this channel on labor supply, we use our reduced-form evidence to estimate a dynamic lifecycle model of labor supply that endogenizes unemployment and retirement transitions. We show that the increase in potential benefit durations in the late 1980s increased unemployment rates for workers aged 55-59 by around three percentage points (or about a 30 percent increase), playing a significant role in the large increases in unemployment rates for older workers.

Using a randomized experiment in rural Malawi, this paper finds that providing information on mobile bank buses’ services leads to a higher probability of adopting savings accounts in the treatment group. Households in the treated villages are 3.06 percentage points more likely to adopt savings accounts than households in the control group. Second, the information treatment leads to an increase of in the probability of households receiving remittances in the treated villages, as well as an increase in the amount of remittances received. In particular, the effect is strongest for households that lived at least three kilometers away from the trade centers, which suggests that the main cost of transferring remittance is the cost of traveling to a bank. Third, the 2SLS regression provides suggestive evidence that adopting savings accounts leads to an increase in households’ remittance activities. The 63.3 percentage points increase in the possibility of households receiving remittances after adopting savings accounts suggests that there previously exist high costs associated with the informal channels of transferring remittances.

The diploma thesis deals with analysis of selected low-risk investments, with wich we can appreciate our savings. It is building savings, pension insurance, passbooks, time deposits, government bonds and savings accounts, while special emphasis is laid on savings accounts. The main goal of the diploma thesis is to estimate annual revenue of the above mentioned low-risk investments, while taking into account such factors as tax relief or government contribution for some of them. Subsequent survey is focused on knowledge and use of savings accounts.

As researchers, policymakers and employers begin focusing on consumer driven health plan models and medical savings accounts (MSAs), a better understanding of the political viability of such reform initiatives is necessary. The purpose of this study was to survey state legislators' knowledge and perceptions of medical savings accounts (MSAs) and the U.S. health care system in order to identify potential future compromises to health care reform. In February 2004, 201 state legislators from nine states (Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Washington) participated in an on-line survey. The findings from this study revealed significant differences between Republican and Democratic state legislators in their attitudes towards MSAs, level of satisfaction of the U.S. health care system, and overall perceptions of the current and future health care systems. Republican state legislators were 24 times more likely to support MSAs than Democrats. Results also indicated the following three areas had possible bipartisan support for future initiatives: making individuals aware of the actual costs of health care services, providing equitable access to health care services for all individuals, and providing equal tax treatment for those individuals without employer-sponsored health insurance. / Graduation date: 2006

This study was designed to help those persons developing and delivering consumer education curriculum understand the needs of Middlesex, Virginia High School Students. The instrument used was a consumer knowledge survey developed by a partnership between the Consumer Federation of American and American Express. The 52 item questionnaire was designed to measure knowledge in six key areas of consumption-consumer credit, checking/savings accounts, automobile insurance, housing rental, food purchase, and automobile purchase. The respondents were students attending Middlesex High School from the four grade levels with completed Informed Consent forms. There were 55 respondents from a total pool of 375 (freshmen, 44%; sophomores, 27%; juniors, 13%; and seniors, 16%). Descriptive statistics were used for demographic items. Non-statistical comparisons were made between grade levels, descriptive demographic characteristics, and consumer categories. Comparisons were also made between the data collected and the data of the national consumer knowledge survey by the Consumer Federation of America and American Express Company. The results indicate that Middlesex High School students were not well prepared for the world of consumption. Overall, the students who responded had limited understanding of consumer knowledge in the six specific areas. The average score was 39%. Students had the poorest understanding of consumer credit, auto insurance, and food purchases. Scores for these category areas averaged less than 40%. The students scored highest on housing rental (45%) and checking/savings accounts (44%). The seniors scored the highest overall score (48%), which was higher than the national average of high school seniors (42%). / Master of Science

This thesis has examined the fluctuations (or lack thereof) of bank deposits within Montgomery County, Virginia, during the years 1956 through 1966. The three major bank accounts chosen for this purpose were: Loans and Discounts; Time and Savings Deposits; and Demand Deposits. Fluctuations of deposits are of concern to bankers because, among other reasons, (1) the size of demand and time deposits determine the bank's primary and secondary reserves, and (2) the content and nature of the bank's investment portfolio will be affected by these variations in bank deposits. The objectives of this thesis were carried out by: (1) examining the daily financial statements of four representative banks of the county for deposit growth and deposit patterns; (2) searching banking literature for causes of deposit fluctuations; (3) overviewing the economy of the county and the Fifth Federal Reserve District for clues to variations in deposits, and; (4) interviewing county bankers in an effort to determine their thoughts concerning the fluctuations of deposits. The results indicated that there is little deposit variation within the county from year-to-year. This is because (1) the agricultural factor has played such a minor role during the time period; (2) the Radford Arsenal's production has played a stabilizing role in the county, especially since the early 1960s, and; (3) the continuing steady growth of the economy of the Fifth District has had an important effect upon the economy of Montgomery County, helping it to grow in a steady manner. / M.S.

This thesis deals with the risk management of savings accounts. Savings accounts are non- maturing liabilities bearing two embedded options. The first option is the client's right to withdraw deposits on notice. The second option is a bank's right to change the deposit rate on savings accounts whenever it wishes. This in practice means that a fierce competition may arise as banks can quickly react to competitor's change in the deposit rate. The embedded characteristics make the risk management of savings accounts challenging. We identify five key risks of savings accounts: liquidity risk, market risk (interest rate risk), systemic risk, reputational risk, and model risk. The thesis focuses on the interest rate risk and the method of replicating portfolios, which is a standard technique of the estimation of non-maturing liabilities' interest rate risk employed by banks. Using replicating portfolio approach, we derive that savings accounts are risky liabilities. We provide evidence that high deposit rates offered on numerous savings accounts in the Czech Republic have not been consistent with low market rates since January 2012, at least. We show that unsustainable deposit rates combined with competition among banks will lead to capital losses in some banks when market rates increase. JEL...

This thesis presents a comparison of five commercially available products most commonly used by Czech households: a savings account, buildings savings, pension insurance, investment life insurance and mutual funds in terms of taxation. The aim of the work is an overview of the taxation of selected products for the general public in a concise form and show specific impacts on individual cases.