Is financial fragility a matter of illiquidity? An appraisal for Italian households

Marianna Brunetti, Elena Giarda () and Costanza Torricelli

Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) from Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi"

Abstract: In this paper we investigate household financial fragility and assess the role played by the composition of the household portfolio besides standard determinants of this condition (e.g. income, indebtedness, age, gender, financial literacy). We take the case of Italy, given the very peculiar portfolio composition (high level of housing and low level of indebtedness and portfolio diversification) and provide two main contributions. First, we propose a novel definition of financial fragility. Second, based on this new measure, we use data from the 1998-2010 Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth to investigate the determinants of this condition. Our results confirm most usual markers of financial fragility and additionally highlight the role of homeownership, which is not related to the presence of mortgages but it is rather connected to specific socio-demographic features such as age and marital status.

Keywords: financial fragility; household portfolios; housing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C25 D14 G11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: pages 25
Date: 2012-06
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (31)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Is Financial Fragility a Matter of Illiquidity? An Appraisal for Italian Households (2016)
Working Paper: Is Financial Fragility a Matter of Illiquidity? An Appraisal for Italian Households (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mod:wcefin:0032

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