We develop a model of education where individuals face educational risk. Successfully entering the skilled labor sector depends on individual effort in education and public resources, but educational risk still causes (income) inequality. We show that an optimal public policy consists of...

In this model of education, where individuals are exposed both to educational risk and to wage risk within the skilled sector, successful graduation depends both on individual effort to study and on public resources. We show that insuring the present risks is a dichotomic task: Wage risk is...

In der aktuellen Debatte über die Target2-Salden im Eurosystem wurde zu deren Abbau das Ausgleichsverfahren der Federal Reserve in den USA vorgeschlagen. Der dortige Ausgleichsmechanismus ist jedoch rein bilanzieller Natur und führt lediglich zu einer Neuaufteilung der Aktivseite des...

Nicht zuletzt das Buch von Thomas Piketty hat die öffentliche und auch die wissenschaftliche Debatte über Verteilungsfragen wieder in Schwung gebracht. Unstrittig ist, dass die Ungleichheit der Löhne und der Haushaltseinkommen in Deutschland zugenommen hat. Die deutlichen Veränderungen der...

The current state of affairs in the euro area (EA) instills hope in economic recovery but also substantial concern. The crisis countries have made considerable, albeit quite uneven, progress in central areas of reform. Yet severe obstacles remain. Moreover, European policy makers have reformed...

We analyze whether a redistributive government should provide ex ante insurance against unfortunate outcomes or whether it should instead rely on transfers for redistributing income ex post. To this end, we develop a model of education in which individuals face educational risk and wage...

In this paper, we assess the impact of major German structural reforms from 1999 to 2008 on key macroeconomic variables. By many, these reforms, especially the Hartz reforms on the labor market, are considered to be the root of observed imbalances in the Euro Area. Our simulations within a...

In this paper, we assess the impact of major German structural reforms from 1999 to 2008 on key macroeconomic variables. By many, these reforms, especially the Hartz reforms on the labor market, are considered to be the root of observed imbalances in the Euro Area. Our simulations within a...