Pension funding, housing wealth and macroeconomic demand

The overarching theme of this research project is the role that pension funding and housing wealth jointly play in the economic decision making of households. We show that Dutch households are primarily invested in these two illiquid asset categories. We study the consequences using empirical methods as well as life cycle and general equilibrium models. Policy experiments within the Dutch pension fund system indicate that specific types of flexibilisation and funding gap restoration policies (such as early withdrawal, voluntary participation and richer contribution mandates) could enhance household welfare and resilience to adverse shocks.