Pension benefit rules depend on individual history far more than taxes do, and age plays a much larger role in pension determination than in tax determination. Apart from some simulation studies, theoretical studies of optimal tax design typically contain neither a mandatory pension system nor...

Ein einheitlicher Rentenbeitrag trotz längerer Lebenserwartung der Frauen, der Ausbau derKindererziehungszeiten und die Hinterbliebenenrenten stellen faktische Begünstigungen von Frauen in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung dar. Wie sollten derartige Umverteilungen ordnungspolitisch korrekt...

We examine how labor immigration affects public pensions under centralized wage setting. We show that immigration improves the sustainability of pay-as-you-go pensions if and only if total employment declines. This occurs if the labor demand elasticity exceeds the unemployment rate.

Although immigration of workers generates a positive externality on members of domestic pension systems, many countries are very reluctant to allow foreigners into their labor markets. In a political economic framework, we explain this voting outcome by considering a young unskilled median voter...

The paper surveys the state of German pension system after a sequence of reforms aimed at achieving long-term sustainability. We argue that the latest reforms have moved pension provision in Germany in principle from a defined benefit to a defined contribution scheme, and that this move has...

This paper introduces the approach of the Freiburg model to quantify accrued-to-date liabilities (ADL) of public pension schemes. The presented framework has been applied to carry out benchmark calculations for 19 EU member states on behalf of the Eurostat/ECB Contact Group on Pensions. We will...