This paper analyzes behavioral responses to a reform in the German public pension system that allowed individuals with a long contribution history to retire without deductions before reaching the regular retirement age. Following the 2014 reform, individuals with 45 contribution years could...

We estimate the labor force participation (LFP) response to the introduction of means-tested minimum pensions in the UK through the Old-Age Pension Act (OAP) of 1908. The OAP was a major social policy intervention and the first one to universally target older workers in a time of very limited...

Providing a decent living standard and preventing old-age poverty are the two major challenges of pension insurance schemes. Replacement rates below the poverty line despite many years of contribution represent a major challenge for public pension schemes with respect to the systems "raison...

Age is an important factor in entrepreneurship. The paths into entrepreneurship at a later age may be varied. Self-employment in later life may be either a form of partial retirement or a career option. Older individuals may also be pushed into self-employment. The focus of this paper is on the...

Two stylised facts of the German labour market are that first, the demand for (high-)skilled labour has been growing rapidly for a number of years and second, the country is facing a particularly strong demographic change with the expected size of the population decreasing rapidly and the...

Population changes are decisive for growth performances. This has been shown in a number of country studies, using time series data. The analysis is here extended in two dimensions: 1) the importance of demographics for growth is taking in to account a regional dimension allowing for spatial...

Ageing of most societies is driven by two factors: (1) birth rates are declining and (2) people are living longer. These developments have substantial effects on economies and, in particular, on the funding of our living standards in retirement. We develop an overlapping generation model in...

This study provides the first empirical evidence of the causal impact of fertility outcomes on old-age labor supply, by innovatively employing population policies in the early 1970s and the sex of the eldest child within families as plausibly exogenous instruments of fertility. The results show...

Recent macroeconomic and demographic trends have resulted in new challenges for pension systems. One of these challenges is to create a sustainable pension system while simultaneously providing adequate pension benefits for current and future pensioners. This research explores how similar are...

This paper analyses whether the severe demographic change in Germany causes its high current account surpluses. An ageing population both increases the supply and lowers demand of capital in an economy. Due to a longer life span individuals save more. Fewer workers reduce the optimal capital...