Negative Anreizeffekte plagen alle Bereiche der Sozialpolitik. Diese negativen Anreizeffekte beziehen sich auf eine Zurücknahme des Arbeitsangebotes, eine Flucht aus der sozialversicherungspflichtigen Beschäftigung oder der Reduzierung von Ersparnissen. Diese negativen Anreizeffekte werden in...

The German public retirement insurance is one of the most generous and universal pension systems in the world. At the same time, the system is under severe strain due to very strong population aging and shrinking system participation. Labor force participation of the elderly is therefore an...

Individuals are exposed over the life cycle to considerable biometric, economic, family and political risks. Do we have the right institutions to cover these risks efficiently? We use the term “institutions“ in a broad sense comprising individual saving, family help, private insurances and...

Demographic change has differential impacts on the welfare of current and future generations. In a simple closed economy, aging -- a relative scarcity of young workers -- increases wages, increasing the welfare of the young. At the same time, population aging will reduce rates of return to...

This paper describes portfolio choices of German households in the 1980's and 1990's. We present stylized facts and analyze recent trends of asset ownership rates and asset shares on the basis of national accounts and survey data. We correlate socio-demographic household characteristics with...

Three issues dominate the political debate over savings in Europe: First, can private savings substitute for public pensions in the provision of retirement income, given that the current generosity of pay-as-you-go financed pensions is hardly sustainable in the light of population ageing? And if...

Summary This paper looks at the sources or retirement income and how these might change in the course of population aging. It stresses four points: Retirement income exhibits a large degree of heterogeneity. While some households are overannuitized, there are still pockets of poverty in old age....

Germany has one of the most generous public pension and health insurance systems of the world, yet private savings are high until old age. Savings remain positive in old age, even for most low income households. How can we explain what we might want to term the 'German savings puzzle?' We...

National housing markets differ in many aspects, making cross-national studies a fascinating subject. This article sheds light on housing demand in Germany and Japan. The primary task undertaken is to separate cross-national differences in the structure of housing demand by differing preferences...

This is a translation of SFB 504 discussion paper 97-23 Deutschland verfügt über eines der großzügigsten Rentensysteme der Welt. Gleichzeitig ist Deutschland mit einem der weltweit drastischsten Bevölkerungsalterungsprozesse konfrontiert. Das Verhältnis von Erwerbstätigen zu Rentnern wird...