Demographic trends in most developed economies are characterized by rising longevity and decreasing birthrates. These trends endanger the sustainability of the current public pension systems. Therefore social security reform proposals are on the agenda in many countries. This paper demonstrates...

We consider competitive firms operating under price uncertainty when taxation is asymmetric (i.e. profits are taxed at a higher rate than losses are compensated). In the absence of risk sharing tools, the larger 'gap' in taxation may either lower or increase the firm's optimal output, depending...