Projects (21)
Netspar endows several research projects at any given time, ranging from € 10,000 to € 500,000. Below you will find more information about ongoing and completed projects. Researchers can submit proposals within the various calls for short-term and long-term research projects that Netspar expands during the year. For more information, please contact policy advisor Silvie van Halder via 013 – 466 37 93 or via email.
Talent Grant
Pension-related decision making of financially strained citizens
The Dutch pension system has recently undergone significant changes, increasing citizens’ responsibility for their own pension planning. While this shift may empower some, it presents substantial challenges for others, especially those under financial strain. This project aims to understand how policymakers can better understand and accommodate the preferences of these individuals, ensuring they are not marginalized in the new pension framework. It focuses on…
Theme
Pension Planning in the Age of AI – What can we learn from Digital Peers?
We bring a new research-based pension app to a series of large-scale field experiments across the Netherlands to devise new ways to support pension planning for specific target groups and produce novel insights on 1. how to engage young people to get started with pension planning 2. how to aid people close to retirement to make suitable choices on pension payout options 3. how…
Theme
Risk preference measurement and risk communication – A large-scale comparison of methods and its implications for the pension industry
Understanding risk preferences is crucial in the financial sector, particularly in the Netherlands, where pension funds must consider participants’ risk preferences in the new pension system. However, there is no scientific consensus on which methods to use for risk-preference measurement, and the Authority for Financial Markets does not endorse specific methods. Furthermore, the implementation of the new pension system mandates the use of visual…
Theme
Introducing a new pension system: The importance of distributive, procedural and interactional justice
In the coming years, a new pension system will be launched in the Netherlands. The extent to which pension participants will be satisfied with the new system will not only depend on the ultimate benefit they will receive. Satisfaction with the system will also depend on the extent to which (1) the ultimate benefit matches participants’ expectations, (2) participants consider the allocation principles to…
Topicality (short-term)
Clear communication on uncertain outcomes
The new pension system entails uncertainty for participants. During the accrual of the pension, the amount of the expected benefit will fluctuate as a result of economic developments. Uncertainty often leads to negative emotions and avoiding making choices (Han, 2013). In the case of pensions, this can lead to unnecessary unrest, but also to the postponement of steps to arrange for a desirable supplement….
Topicality (short-term)
Supporting participants in choosing fixed or variable benefits based on experience sampling at the provisional and final moment of choice
Within the improved contribution scheme, participants can choose between a fixed or variable payment before the retirement date. Pension funds use standard models and a prescribed calculation method for this purpose. Participants see the expected pension, pension ‘in good’ and ‘in bad’ weather. However, this does not provide participants with insight into the year-on-year volatility of benefits. By means of experience sampling, in which…
Topicality (short-term)
Communication about allocation of personal assets
When switching from an existing benefit scheme to the new Solidaire Premium Agreement (SPO) or the Flexible Premium Agreement (FPO), shares of participants are converted into personal assets. The main question of this research is how communication around this transition can be formed. The main question consists of several sub questions. We distinguish between communication at the time of decision-making (for the funds involved)…
Topicality (short-term)
Choice guidance regarding fixed and variable pensions
In the new flexible premium contracts and in the existing contracts under the Improved Contribution Scheme Act (Wet Verbeterde Premieregeling or WVP), around their retirement date participants can choose between a fixed monthly pension or a variable pension that is expected to be higher but is uncertain also. This project examines the desired guidance in this choice and possible differences between participants in the…
Theme
Automated financial advice: quality, ethical and design challenges
Nearly 30% of Dutch households are at risk of having insufficient financial resources after retirement (Knoef, Been et al. 2016) and 40% of 35-55 year-olds have no idea of their financial situation after retirement (Nibud 2019). Research by the AFM revealed that pension providers do not always properly guide participants in their choices (AFM 2021). Thus, it is important that individuals are well-informed about…
Topicality (short-term)
Visual communication of uncertain retirement benefits
In the new pension system, the importance of good choice guidance for participants by pension funds and administrators will increase. One is also faced with the difficult task of informing participants on the possibility that the pension benefits might be higher or lower. The prediction of the amount of the benefits and the margin of uncertainty, are often communicated visually. Such visualizations can be…