A heated debate focused on the impact of multiculturalism and ethnic heterogeneity on welfare state generosity has emerged in recent years. At the center of the debate is the argument that ethnic heterogeneity undermines support for the welfare state for several reasons. Prominent among these is...

Redistribution across individuals in a one-year-period framework is an empirically intensely studied question. However, a substantial share of annual redistribution might turn out to serve individual insurance in a longer perspective. In particular, public pensions, that smooth incomes over the...