The dissertation exploits German micro-level data to add to the scant empirical evidence on the link between information, institutions and old-age provision. It is concerned with implications for data collection and policy analysis. It consists of an introduction and five essays which...

The stock market collapse led to political tensions between generations due to the fuzzy definition of the property rights over the pension funds’ wealth. The problem is best resolved by the introduction of generational accounts. Modern consumption and portfolio theory shows that the younger...

This paper provides an overview of the work of Herbert Simon and his ideas about rational decision making. By his own standards, Simon is an economist who works in the tradition of Adam Smith and Alfred Marshall. The central theme in Simon’s research is how human beings organize themselves in...

Die Besteuerung der Alterseinkünfte in Deutschland wurde mit dem Alterseinkünftegesetz 2004 grundsätzlich neu geregelt. Bisher wurden Altersvorsorgeaufwendungen zusammen mit anderen Vorsorgeaufwendungen bis zu bestimmten Höchstbeträgen als Sonderausgaben berücksichtigt. Diese Regelung...

Over the past three decades, the wellbeing of people over retirement age has improved, not only absolutely but also relatively. Being old is no longer synonymous with being poor. This improvement has occurred across almost all of the main OECD countries, and has occurred almost regardless of the...

Deutschland und Österreich sind von einem relativ ähnlichen Startpunkt aus in verschiedene rentenpolitische Richtungen aufgebrochen. Während Österreich aber weiterhin die traditionelle umlagefinanzierte öffentliche Rentenversicherung ins Zentrum der Alterssicherungspolitik stellt, erhielt...