This paper provides a first set of results on the impact of minimum wage regulation in Switzerland. We study the effects of an unexpected Supreme Court ruling mandating the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel to enforce a minimum hourly wage of around CHF 20 previously accepted via popular ballot. Given...

We analyze expectations of the Dutch population ages 25 and older concerning future generosity of state and occupational pensions, the main pillars of the Dutch pension system. We use rotating panel data with monthly observations from 2006 until 2012 on individuals' subjective expectations...

This paper studies the recent trends in inflation in the euro area and estimates to what extent the current inflationary pressures are driven by demand expansion and by supply side disruptions. First of all, consumer price inflation is particularly pronounced in goods and less so in the case of...

Während die Zahl der Erwerbstätigen unter 50 Jahren in den letzten Jahren abgenommen hat und erst mit dem gegenwärtigen Konjunkturaufschwung wieder anzieht, ist die Beschäftigung der Älteren seit 1998 stetig und deutlich gewachsen - und zwar um 1,5 Mill. Das gilt sowohl für die...

In December 2005, the Belgian government adopted the law on the Intergenerational Solidarity Pact (ISP) aimed at increasing the employment rate of older workers. The main policies of the ISP consist of a pension bonus, reductions in employers' social security contributions and measures...

Rentenleistungen für Elternschaft und Kinderbetreuungszeiten, den sogenannten Mütterrenten, wird eine hohe Bedeutung zur Reduktion der Geschlechterungleichheit beim Alterseinkommen zugeschrieben. So haben fast alle europäischen Länder entsprechende Regelungen in ihren ansonsten überwiegend...

Flexible work arrangements and retirement options provide one solution for the challenges of unemployment and underemployment, aging populations, and unsustainable public pension systems in welfare states around the world. We examine the relationships between well-being and job satisfaction on...

Using a novel dataset from the 2006 Portuguese Labour Force Survey this paper examines the impact of a voluntary reduction in hours of work, before retirement, on the moment of exit from the labour force. If, as often suggested, flexibility in hours of work is a useful measure to postpone...

We study the transitions from career to gradual and permanent retirement by a sample of (Continental) European males aged 55 to 70 in the late 2000s. We find that only 14.6% of the workers in this sample moved from a career to a bridge job by the time of the interview, much less than in the...

Industrial decline and restructuring in the transition economies presents a prime example of the relationship between changes in aggregate economic indicators and underlying microeconomic adjustments. This paper employs matched labor force survey data to focus on the magnitude and determinants...