This paper challanges the view that weak work norms in generous welfare states makes them economically unsustainable. I develop a dynamic model of family-transmitted values that has a laissez-faire equilibrium with strong work norms coexisting with a social-insurance equilibrium with weak work...

Many European countries still provide their citizens with social insurance programs of unprecedented generosity. A cultural critique of the welfare state contends that generous social insurance has detrimental effects on work norms. This article revisits the model of endogenous work ethic...

An unduly neglected implication of the choice of the tax unit is its impact on the consumption risk carried by taxpayers. As compared to individual taxation, joint taxation with income splitting provides couples with more insurance against the risk of earning inability for one of the spouses. If...

In "Le capital au XXIème siècle" plädiert Thomas Piketty für eine drakonische Kapitalbesteuerung, um das Auseinanderdriften der Vermögen zu stoppen. Aber wegen ihrer schädlichen Anreizwirkung sind die von ihm anvisierten Steuersätze zu hoch. Eine Kombination aus niedrigeren Steuersätzen...

Since objective news coverage is vital to democracy, captured media can seriously distort collective decisions. The current paper develops a voting model where citizens are uncertain about the welfare eÞects induced by alternative policy options and derive information about those eÞects from...