We study the determinants of the demand for annuities using survey data from Italy. Eliciting potential demand with an ad hoc question, we are able, contrary to most previous studies, to disentangle demand from supply-side effects. Our results highlight the do importance of wealth, impatience, education and financial literacy in shaping annuity demand. In particular, not only do poor people annuitise less; they are also characterised by a higher elasticity of annuity demand to prices. This result suggests that prices higher than those actuarially fair should concern policymakers and regulators not only on efficiency, but also on fairness grounds.

We analyse the impact of the financial crisis on the structure and the dynamics of the Italian interbank market, focusing on monthly bank assets and liabilities data between January 2007 and December 2010. The analysis is developed using an ad hoc dataset based on supervisory reports. The data contain nominative information, which allow us to identify different reporting entities and counterparts. We distinguish between intra-group and extragroup transactions, domestic and foreign counterparties, secured and unsecured positions, and short and long-term loans. We also analyse the relationships between large, medium and small groups and characterize the direction of funds between the group's parent companies and the other banks in the group.

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