Though the present thesis is not intended as a monograph, its respective chapters are interrelated: The major research question is whether the German public pension system (or potentially any annuity-based pension system) causes redistribution between income groups. Especially the relationship...

A crucial parameter for increasing the retirement age is the early-retirement discount of the public pension system. Critics of the present German system argue that the downward adjustment of the pension for early retirees is too small compared with a ‘fair’ system and thus encourages early...