Recent developments in society have generated misalignment between the welfare state and socio-economic conditions and preferences. This paper emphasis developments in the labor market and the structure, stability and preferences of the family, as well as macroeconomic changes. The latter...

This paper analyzes the interplay between economic incentives and social norms in a public finance context. We assume that to live one's own work is a social norm, and that the larger the population fraction adhering to this norm, the more intensely it is felt by the individual.

New information and communication technology (ICT) makes consumers better informed about available products, product quality and prices, which mitigates problems of asymmetric information. The entry of firms is facilitated, competition and economic effiency is boosted and the market powers of...