The present paper studies the role of social security in an economy populated by overlapping generations of individuals that have time-consistent or time-inconsistent preferences, face mortality and individual income risk, borrowing constraints as well as progressive income taxes. Our...

The present paper aims to quantify the macroeconomic and welfare effects of taxfavored retirement accounts. Starting from an equilibrium without saving incentives, we introduce such accounts and compute the new transition path and the resulting long-run equilibrium. Since our...

The present paper compares the distributional and risk-sharing consequences of two pension reform proposals in Germany which both aim to improve the sustainability of the current system by introducing demographic variables to the benefit calculation. While the first reform proposes a so-called...

All countries in the European Union stand at the fore of a phenomenal demographic transition. Especially Germany will realize an enormous aging of its population. The reasons for this development are twofold: On the one hand, the number of elderly will more than double over the coming decades....

Bund und Länder haben sich über eine Reform des Länderfinanzausgleichs verständigt Welche Veränderungen haben sich auf den verschiedenen Stufen des Ausgleichssystems ergeben? Wie hoch sind die Anreiz- und Belastungswirkungen?

Was sind die Ursachen der aktuellen kommunalen Finanzkrise? Welche Aufkommensverluste stellen sich bei den Gemeinden bei einer Abschaffung der Gewerbesteuer ein? Üblicherweise werden solche Fragen im Rahmen des primären Finanzausgleichs diskutiert, der die aufkommensstärksten Steuern auf...

Die von der Bundesregierung eingesetzte Sachverständigenkommission zur Neuordnung der Altersbesteuerung hat am 17. März ihren Abschlussbericht vorgelegt. Welche Veränderungen schlägt die Kommission für die künftige steuerrechtliche Behandlung von Vorsorgeaufwendungen und Altersbezügen...

This paper examines the distributional and efficiency effects of pension privatization in Germany. Starting from a benchmark that refects the current unfunded pension system, a fully funded system is introduced. The accrued benefits of the old system are financed by alternative tax combinations...

The developed world stands at the fore of a phenomenal demographic transition. Over the next 30 years the number of elderly in the OECD countries will more than double. At the same time, the number of workers available to pay the elderly their government-guaranteed pension and health care...

Like in many other OECD countries, the population will age rapidly in Germany during the next decades. This undermines the future sustainability of the current unfunded public pension system and motivates the search for reform options. The present paper aimes to evaluate some currently discussed...