Italian Household Wealth: Background, Main Results, Outlook

Luigi, Cannari and Giovanni, D'Alessio and Grazia, Marchese (2008): Italian Household Wealth: Background, Main Results, Outlook. Published in: Household wealth in Italy, Banca d’Italia, 2008 (May 2008): pp. 13-29.

Abstract

The paper offers a broad overview of the topics addressed during the Bank of Italy's conference on Household wealth in Italy held in Perugia (Italy) in 2007. It recalls the principal reasons for central bank involvement in the compilation of statistics on wealth, looks at the Bank of Italy's experience in this specific field, provides a brief synopsis of the research to date and compares the new estimates with those previously available. The final section provides some thoughts on the future direction of the research.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Households, Wealth, Saving
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles > E31 - Price Level ; Inflation ; Deflation

References

Alchian, A.A. and B. Klein (1973), “On a Correct Measure of Inflation”, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 5, No. 1, Part 1, February, pp. 173-191.

Ando, A., Guiso, L. and I. Visco (eds.) (1994), Savings and the Accumulation of Wealth, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Banca d’Italia (2003), “The Italian Financial Accounts”, Tematiche Istituzionali, July. Also available at www.bancaditalia.it/statistiche/metodoc/cofin03, Roma.

Banca d’Italia (2006), I conti finanziari: la storia, i metodi, l’Italia e i confronti internazionali, Proceedings of the Conference on Financial Accounts held in Perugia on 1-2 December 2005, Banca d’Italia, Roma. (English translation forthcoming).

Barro, R.J. (1974), “Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 82, No. 6, pp. 1095-1117.

Barro, R.J. (1989), “The Ricardian Approach to Budget Deficits”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 3, No. 2, Spring, pp. 37-54.

Biancotti, C. and G. D’Alessio (2007), “The Use of Micro-level Data from the Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth: a Focus on Household Finance”, Irving Fisher Committee on Central bank Statistics, IFC Bulletin, No. 26, July, BIS, Basel.

Brandolini, A., Cannari, L., D’Alessio, G. and I. Faiella (2004), “Household Wealth Distribution in Italy in the 1990s”, Banca d’Italia, Temi di discussione, No. 530.

Cannari, L. and G. D’Alessio (1990), “Housing Assets in the Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth”, in C. Dagum and M. Zenga (eds.), Income and Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Poverty, Berlin, Springer-Verlag, pp. 326-334.

Cannari, L. and G. D’Alessio (1993), “Non-Reporting and Under-Reporting Behaviour in the Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth”, Bulletin of the International Statistical Institute – Proceedings of the 49th ISI Session, tome LV, No. 3, August-September, pp. 395-412.

Cannari, L. and G. D’Alessio (2006), La ricchezza degli italiani, Farsi un’idea, Bologna, Il Mulino.

Cannari, L., D’Alessio, G. and M. Paiella (2006), “La ricchezza delle famiglie italiane: un’analisi territoriale”, in L. Cannari and F. Panetta (eds.), Il Sistema finanziario e il Mezzogiorno. Squilibri strutturali e divari finanziari, Bari, Cacucci.

Cannari, L., D’Alessio, G. and A. Venturini (2003), “La ricchezza delle famiglie nelle regioni italiane”, Rivista Economica del Mezzogiorno, a. XVIII, No. 1-2, pp. 47-85.

D’Alessio, G. and I. Faiella (2002), “Non-response Behaviour in the Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth”, Banca d’Italia, Temi di discussione, No. 462, December.

D’Aurizio, L., Faiella, I., Iezzi, S. and A. Neri (2006), “L’under-reporting della ricchezza finanziaria nell’indagine sui bilanci delle famiglie”, Banca d’Italia, Temi di discussione, No. 610, December.

Draghi, M. (2007), “Household Wealth in Central Bank Policy Analysis”, speech delivered at the conference on “The Luxembourg Wealth Study: Enhancing Comparative Research on Household Finance”, Banca d’Italia, Roma, 5-7 July.

Goodhart, C.A. and B. Hofmann (2000), “Do Asset Prices Help Predict Consumer Price Inflation?”, The Manchester School, Vol. 68 (Supplement), pp. 122-140.

Merton, B. (2006), Observations on Innovation in Pension Fund Management in the Impending Future, Keynote speech given at the 2005 NCREIF Fall Conference.

Mishkin, F.S. (1996), “The Channels of Monetary Transmission: Lesson for Monetary Policy”, NBER, Working Paper No. 5464.

Mishkin, F.S. (2006), “Monetary Policy Strategy: How Did We Get Here?”, NBER, Working Paper No. 12515.

OECD (2007), Economic Outlook, No. 81, May, Paris.

Pagliano, P. and N. Rossi (1992), “The Italian Saving Rate: 1951 to 1990 Estimates”, in G. Marotta, P. Pagliano and N. Rossi, “Income and Saving in Italy: a Reconstruction”, Banca d’Italia, Temi di discussione, No. 169.

Reiter, M. (1999), “Asset Prices and the Measurement of Wealth and Saving”, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Economics Working Papers, No. 396.

Semeraro, G. (2006), “È possibile tenere conto delle pensioni future nei conti finanziari?”, in Banca d’Italia (2006).

Tresoldi, C. and I. Visco (1975), “Un tentativo di stima della ricchezza delle famiglie”, 1963-1973, Rivista di Diritto Finanziario e Scienza delle Finanze, No. 4, pp. 516-524.

Visco, I, (2007), “Opening Address” at the Conference “The Luxembourg Wealth Study: Enhancing Comparative Research on Household Finance”, Banca d’Italia, Roma, 5-7 July.