Ersparnisbildung in Lebensversicherungen wird im deutschen Einkommensteuersystem durch die Steuerfreiheit der Zinserträge bei Vertragsablauf und durch die Möglichkeit zum Sonderausgabenabzug der Versicherungsprämien gefördert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird der Effekt dieser Steuervorteile...

The Treasury has, at times, suggested giving greater consideration to reforms to narrow the Saving-Investment gap. However, there has been less discussion of specific policy options for doing this. This paper helps to fill the gap by asking what policy reforms could help to narrow the...

This paper analyzes optimal linear taxes on labor income and savings in a standard two-period life-cycle model with endogenous leisure demands in both periods and non-insurable income risks. Households are subject to skill shocks in both periods of the life-cycle. We allow for completely general...

Whole life insurance plays an important role in household saving. However, empirical evidence on its determinants is scarce. This paper studies two natural experiments to identify the effects of tax incentives and bequest motives on life-insurance demand. An unanticipated tax reform in 2000...

Dem Ehegattensplitting wird allgemein unterstellt, dass es der Förderung von Ehe und Familie diene. Diese Sicht folgt aus der Tatsache, dass es nach einer Verfassungsbeschwerde gemäß Artikel 6 GG eingeführt wurde, der neben dem Förderungsaspekt allerdings auch einen...

In a simple three-factor-two-final-good formulation (two factors immobile and sector-specific), a well-known result under competitive and full-employment assumptions is that a partial tax on the mobile factor in either industry hurts that factor everywhere. It can be reversed, however, when the...

Many countries suffer from persistently high unemployment rates. The scope for labour market reforms is often limited to measures that hurt neither shareholders nor workers. This paper develops a policy proposal, which allows the government to reduce wage costs without changing the income...

This paper reviews how the impact of taxes on the incentive to invest in the corporate sector can be measured. The main focus of the paper is to discuss measures derived from economic theory. In empirical work, these tend to be based on the legal parameters of tax regimes, rather than on...

Can directed technical change be used to combat climate change? We construct new firm-level panel data on auto industry innovation distinguishing between dirty (internal combustion engine) and clean (e.g. electric and hybrid) patents across 80 countries over several decades. We show that firms...