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Supplementary private pensions and saving: evidence from Spain*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2014

JOSÉ-IGNACIO ANTÓN*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
RAFAEL MUÑOZ DE BUSTILLO*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
ENRIQUE FERNÁNDEZ-MACÍAS*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Communication, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
*
(e-mail: janton@usal.es)
(e-mail: efm@usal.es)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of private supplementary pensions (and the tax reliefs that aim to stimulate such plans) on national saving in Spain. It tries to test the alleged positive effects of private pension plans on savings. Using a longitudinal dataset and fixed-effects methods, we find that tax-favored contributions to a pension fund are not associated with a lower consumption level, which implies that this policy does not increase national saving. The empirical results on the impact of contributions on private household wealth are less clear.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

*

We thank anonymous referees and Thomas Prosser for comments that helped to substantially improve the article.

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