Economists and demographers have long argued that fertility differs by income (differential fertility), and that social security creates incentives for people to rear fewer children. Does the effect of social security on fertility differ by income? How does social security change the...

The UK's Labour Government has expanded means-testing of social security but attempted to do so while minimising the disincentive effects typically associated with such an approach. We test whether it has succeeded by reviewing the effect of 5 years of reforms on a range of incentives across the...

The current Labour Government was elected in 1997 with few specific social security proposals. This paper argues that after five years, consistent trends in social security policy have emerged: there is a willingness to increase benefits; a “work-first” focus; increasing centrality for...

El presente documento presenta una revisión de la reforma institucional en Bolivia entre 1982, año de la recuperación de la democracia, 1985, año de la aplicación de la economía de mercado y el año 2000. Es una revisión crítica asumiendo que la democracia y la economía de mercado no...

In this paper we analyse several measures which are typically included in a social security reform: a cut in the social security benefits, an increase in the social security tax and tax incentives for the purchase of private life annuities, which have recently become quite popular at the...

In continental Europe, the unemployment rate has risen continuously from a low level of below 3 percent in the early 1970s to more than 10 percent in the late 1990s. If those who are in governmental employment schemes and in early retirement are included, the unemployment rate runs as high as 20...

Mehr Beschäftigung und weniger Arbeitslosigkeit kann es in einer Marktwirtschaft nur geben, wenn die Arbeitsproduktivität, die Wertschöpfung pro Beschäftigten, real stärker steigt als die Löhne. Ist dagegen die Lohnzunahme größer als der Produktivitätsfortschritt, so bauen die...

Dieser Beitrag versucht eine differenzierte Betrachtung der Angemessenheit des ar-beitsmarktpolitischen Instrumentariums. Dabei stellt sich die Frage, wie die Neukon-zeption der Arbeitsmarktpolitik an die bisherigen Entwicklungen der Arbeitsförderung anschließt und inwiefern durch die...

Dass Ordnungsökonomik und empirische Politikwissenschaft gleichermaßen den Blick auf den einzelnen Bürger richten, eröffnet Chancen zur Diskussion und besseren Verknüpfung beider Sichtweisen. Nachfolgend werden die Kriterien für eine Reformpolitik zunächst getrennt aus...

Social assistance and unemployment assistance, which provide means tested income support (social welfare) without pre-specified time limits, are viewed as one important reason for the persistently high level of unemployment in Germany by many economists. In order to increase work incentives and,...