The impact of a stronger work requirement for welfare recipients in a workfare program is studied in an efficiency wage model where a representative firm chooses its level of monitoring activities. A stricter workfare policy raises employment as well as the monitoring intensity. It typically...

The consequences of introducing or tightening time limits on the receipt of high unemployment benefits are studied in a shirking model. Stricter time limits have an ambiguous impact on the net wage, and changes of utility levels of employed workers and recipients of high unemployment benefits...

Der Sozialstaat wurde geschaffen, die Fehlfunktionen des Arbeitsmarktes zu korrigieren und mehr soziale Gerechtigkeit herzustellen, als es der Markt vermag. Aber der Sozialstaat trägt seinerseits zu den sichtbaren Defekten des Arbeitsmarktes bei. Besonders problematisch ist die heutige...

Over the next four decades, increasing old-age dependency ratios will exert an enormous upward pressure on welfare spending in most developed countries. As this is mainly due to existing unfunded public pension schemes, many countries have embarked on far-reaching reforms in this area,...

Social insurance and other arrangements for funding health-care benefits often establish long-term relationships, effectively providing insurance against lasting changes in an individual's health status, engaging in burden-smoothing over the life cycle, and entailing additional elements of...

Die Private Krankenversicherung (PKV) in Deutschland ist ein System lebenslanger Verträge. Im Rahmen derartige Verträge findet ein Kapitalaufbau für jeweils eine Altersgruppe statt. Wenn die Versicherten jung sind, übersteigt die Prämie die Ausgaben des Versicherers. Die Sparbeiträge...