Using the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), a Japanese panel survey of people age 50 or older, we find that many Japanese in their early 50scompared to those in their late 50s and early 60sexpect their level of public pension benefits to decline. We find that recent pension reform...

Public pay-as-you-go pensions still form the dominant pillar of old-age provision in Germany. This is in marked contrast to the situation in Anglo-Saxon countries. It has advantages if labour markets are strong, e.g., following a quick recovery from the Great Recession. It has disadvantages, as...