Economics

Congratulations to Dr. Andrew Davis on receiving a Harrison McCain Emerging Scholar Award to support his research:

Understanding the Impact of Investment Frictions on Savings and Pension Choices

Canada and many other countries are currently embroiled in a series of public debates around the organization of retirement savings. Should the Canada Pension Plan be extended? Is there a policy role to support private defined benefit or defined contribution pensions? Who should bear the risks in investing for retirement? The answer to these questions requires an understanding of the incentives and costs involved in offering workplace pensions. One key variable driving the value of pensions for workers is how easily individuals can save for themselves. In recent years, a plethora of financial innovation – ETFs, discount brokers, etc – has potentially made accessing financial markets much easier for Canadians. This project aims to measure and understand how the barriers to financial market access have evolved in Canada historically, whether these barriers have declined notably with recent financial innovation, and the corresponding implications for pension policy.