For a sample of sixteen OECD countries over the period 1980-2007 we show that, for given debt-GDP ratio, an increase in … the maturity of the public debt by one year lowers its long-term interest rate by around 20-30 basis points. This effect … is stronger for countries with higher average inflation or debt. …

. IFCs' role is to mitigate this imperfection. Equilibrium public debt is excessive because policymakers are "partisan" and … IFC as the debt bias would fall. However, when other considerations eclipse competence and give the incumbent a strong … electoral advantage or disadvantage, setting up an IFC may be counterproductive as the debt bias would increase. If the …

We explore the benefits of intergenerational risk-sharing through both private funded pensions and via the public debt …. Shocks are smoothed via the public debt and variations in the indexation of pension entitlements and the pension contribution … funding ratio or the public debt ratio get closer to their boundaries. The best-performing pension arrangement is a hybrid …