This paper examines the impact of a change in the German child benefit system in 1996, which led to a large increase in lump sum transfers to families with children. We analyze the impact on the labor force participation of family members. Comparing behavioral changes of adults with children...

The introduction of the German parental leave benefit (Elterngeld) applied to all children born on January 1st, 2007 or later. The new Elterngeld considerably changed the amount of transfers to families during the first two years postpartum. We show that the incentives created by using a cut-off...

Increasing signs seem to indicate that, in the areas of both politics and thought, the age of neoliberal supremacy is approaching its end. An ideology based exclusively on the free play of the market is bound, ultimately, to lose its attraction. Growing inequality and social exclusion, with new...