Lisanne Sanders
| Date of PhD defense: | 21 October 2011 |
| Title of thesis: | Annuity Market Imperfections |
| ISBN: | 978 90 5668 296 5 |
| Promotores: | Prof.dr. Anja de Waegenaere Prof.dr. Theo Nijman |
Abstract:
This dissertation contains three studies on annuity market imperfections. The second chapter explores a setting where individuals are allowed to defer the age at which they receive pension benefits on a yearly basis. In return for the delay of benefit claiming, the annual benefit level is increased. I identify conditions under which insurers are able to offer a dominating product to individuals. Whether insurers can indeed offer a dominating product depends, among others, on the survival probabilities, the term structure of interest rates, and the expense loading. Chapter three focuses on couples who maximize their lifetime utility at retirement. I quantify the welfare loss the couple incurs because only a limited set of annuity portfolios is available, and because the survival probabilities from the insurer differs from the couple’s (subjective) survival probabilities. In Chapter 4, I estimate the joint survival probabilities of spouses, taking into account the possible dependence between the remaining lifetimes of spouses.
Global / English