the relative illiquidity of their net equity in pension funds. dc pension schemes usually grant workers the possibility to withdraw their balances some time before they retire only under special circumstances. any option to grant higher flexibility of early withdrawals ( maybe to those categories of workers, such as young and low - paid workers, that are more likely to be liquidity - constrained ) has to be carefully weighted against the risk that short - sighted and time - inconsistent workers might withdraw too much too early, against their own long - term interest. this naturally leads us to underline the importance of providing dc plan members with good investment returns, as this would be the main way to alleviate the relative illiquidity of investments in pension funds and improve the trade - off between liquidity and pension fund returns. in this respect, it is essential to keep total costs to savers low ; otherwise, the advantages of pension funds ( investing retirement saving in financial instruments as well as enjoying employer contributions and tax incentives ) will be seen mainly in the financial accounts of the intermediaries running the funds, rather than in better living standards for pensioners. indeed, charges may have a major impact on the final balance accrued to workers over an extended period of time. 14 the importance of keeping pension funds ’ total costs low has been emphasized, among others, by the turner report, which argues that, against reasonable expectations of long - term returns, annual charges of 1. 5 percent ( not at all uncommon in many countries ) are high enough to represent a rational disincentive to according to simulations carried out by cesari, grande and panetta ( 2008 ) for italian dc pension funds, the benefit of the employer ’ s contribution provided by the recent pension fund law is substantial : over a 30 - year accumulation period, even on the most unfavourable assumptions, the return obtained by a pension fund member each year is at least 0. 6 percentage points higher, and his final accrued balance more than 6 percent higher, than that obtained by a non - member. tax advantages are also very large : after 30 contribution years the final balance accrued to a younger worker joining a pension fund would be almost 24 percent greater than that accrued to a worker who invests directly in financial assets ; more than half of the advantage would be due to the deductibility of contributions and another third to the preferential taxation of benefits. choi, laibson and madrian ( 2005 ). even small variations

anna maria tarantola : women nurturing sustainable development remarks by ms anna maria tarantola, deputy director general of the bank of italy, at the 58th world forum for women entrepreneurs ( femmes chefs d ’ entreprises mondiales – fcem ) world congress, florence, 22 october 2010. * * * i would like to thank the president of aidda, laura frati gucci, for inviting me to the 58th fcem world congress in this conference entitled “ how women face the new economy and ecology ”. the goal of the conference, to assess women ’ s contribution in balancing economic growth and natural resource conservation, is both topical and challenging. this is not the first time i find myself considering human - ecosystem interaction : natural resources are a fundamental input for production and consumption ; the environment is the receptacle for the waste generated by these processes. 1 the fundamental question we must address today is how to increase and spread wealth and wellbeing while respecting and protecting the environment. the role of women is central. throughout history, women and nature have been closely linked : in ayurvedic philosophy, prakriti – nature – is symbolized by a woman ; similarly, the idea of “ mother earth ” is common to many indo - european cultures. perhaps it is no accident that so many of those who have contributed to raising our environmental consciousness have been – and are – women. let me mention four of these outstanding women. the biologist rachel carlson was the first to study the harmful effects of ddt in the early nineteen - sixties. she can be considered the founder of the modern environmental movement. she was a scientist who stood behind her findings despite fierce attacks from the chemical industry lobby. 2 the environmental scientist donella meadows co - authored the book limits to growth 3 which laid the foundations for an analysis of the earth ’ s limited capacity to support economic and demographic growth. this report was criticized – in particular by economists 4 – but without doubt it had a profound impact on the analytical method used to study environmental problems. meadows used computer technology to apply the theory of complex systems to the economic analysis of the reciprocal effects of growth and the environment ; this is now the standard method to analyse the economic effects of climate change ( integrated assessment modelling ). the nobel peace prize winner wangari maathai, an activist and founder of the environmental movement green belt, contributed importantly to the reforestation of vast areas of kenya. 5 reforestation not only