We develop a model where individuals differ in productivity and in longevity. Benefits from the public pay-as-you-go pension system take the form of a collective annuity, with both a contributive (Bismarckian) component (based on the worker's past earnings) and a flat (Beveridgean) part. Voters...

The present paper aims to quantify efficiency properties of real world social security systems of various institutional designs in order to identify an optimal pension design. Starting from a benchmark economy without social security, we introduce alternative pension systems and compare the...

We construct a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with overlapping generations in order to analyze the optimality of means-testing pension benefits in the UK. While previous studies only consider the long-run welfare effects of alternative policy reforms, we compute the full transition...

This paper explores possible alternatives for the current Dutch first pillar pension scheme (AOW). It presents the welfare, labour market, saving and unintended bequest effects of a shift from a Beveridge towards a Bismarck system in which the pension rights depend on the labour market history....