We analyze empirically the optimal design of social insurance and assistance programs when families obtain insurance by making labor supply choices for both spouses. For this purpose, we specify a structural life-cycle model of the labor supply and savings decisions of singles and married...

Russia and Ukraine are in the process of many changes stemming from economic transition, restructuring, demographic change and other various ongoing challenges. In terms of the ongoing challenges in each country, there are specific problems related to historical developments, such as large scale...

Als ein möglicher Ausweg aus der drohenden Finanzkrise umlagefinanzierter Rentensysteme wird gegenwärtig eine Anhebung des Rentenzugangsalters von vielen favorisiert. Um allerdings Arbeitnehmern einen Anreiz zur Verlängerung der Lebensarbeitszeit zu geben, muss nach Auffassung der meisten...

Wir diskutieren eine Reihe von Problemen der Rentenformel in der deutschen gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung (GRV). Wir zeigen, dass Bev¨olkerungsgruppen mit ¨uberdurchschnittlicher Lebenserwartung, insbesondere die besser Verdienenden, von den ¨ubrigen Versicherten subventioniert werden, da...

The very first minimum wage in Germany was introduced in 1997 for blue-collar workers in sub-sectors of the construction industry. In the setting of a natural experiment blue-collar workers in neighboring 4-digit-industries and white-collar workers are used as control groups for...

Policy-makers face a trade-off between the provision of higher levels of schooling and earlier labour market entries. A fundamental education reform in Germany tackles this trade-off by reducing high school by one year while leaving the total instructional time unchanged. Employing...