This paper uses information from a panel of Dutch firms to investigate the labour productivity effects of performance related pay (PRP). We find that PRP increases labour productivity at the firm level with about 9%.

This paper investigates the disincentive effects of the potential duration of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The disincentive effects are identified by exploiting changes in the UI system in Slovenia, which involved substantial reductions in the potential benefit duration and had...

We provide a long-term perspective on the individual retirement behaviour and on the future of early retirement. In a cross-country sample, we find that total pension spending depends positively on the degree of early retirement and on the share of elderly in the population, which increase the...

The paper reviews recent research on the impact of an aging population on the distribution of income. After briefly discussing the demographic conditions responsible for population aging, a short account is given of demographic trends in the industrialized world. In order to disentangle the many...

It is shown that the net fiscal externality created by an additional member of a pay-as-you-go-pension system that is endowed with individual accounts equals the gross contributions of this member. In Germany, this equals about 175,000 Deutsche marks. The paper uses this information to design a...

This Paper uses stochastic simulations on calibrated models to assess the steady state impact of different pension arrangements in an environment where financial markets are less than perfect. Surprisingly little is known about the optimal split between funded and unfunded systems when there are...

This paper studies the design of pension schemes in a society where fertility is endogenous and parents differ in their ability to raise children. In a world with perfect information, a pay-as-you-go social security system is characterized by equal pensions for all but different contributions...

This study investigates the labour force behaviour of older married couples in Germany. Monthly observations from the first 11 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) are used to describe and analyse the relationship between the labour force behaviour of husbands and wives. The...

In a stochastic two-period OLG model, featuring an aggregate shock to the economy, ex-ante optimality requires intergenerational risk sharing. We compare the level of time-consistent intergenerational risk sharing chosen by a social planner and by office seeking politicians. In the political...

Why do voters support PAYG social security systems? Browning (1975) suggested that for a majority of voters, who consider past contributions as a sunk cost, unfunded systems may represent a better investment than alternative assets, such as mutual or pension funds. I quantify the relevance of...