We analyze the short and long run effects of demographic ageing - increased longevity and reduced fertility - on per-capita growth. The OLG model captures direct effects, working through adjustments in the savings rate, labor supply, and capital deepening, and indirect effects, working through...

We extend "economic equivalence" results, like the Ricardian equivalence proposition, to the political sphere where policy is chosen sequentially. We derive conditions under which a policy regime (summarizing admissible policy choices in every period) and a state are "politico-economically...

We analyze the effect of changes in fertility and longevity on taxes, the composition of government spending, and productivity. To that purpose, we introduce politics in an OLG economy with endogenous growth due to human and physical capital accumulation. Population ageing shifts political power...

We analyze the effect of the projected demographic transition on the political support for social security, and equilibrium outcomes. Embedding a probabilistic-voting setup of electoral competition in the Diamond (1965) OLG model, we find that intergenerational transfers arise in the absence of...

In der öffentlichen Diskussion gibt es immer wieder Wissenschaftler, die für eine Abschaffung des Bargelds plädieren. Ihrer Ansicht nach würde ein solcher Schritt die faktische Zinsuntergrenze von null beseitigen und damit der Geldpolitik weiteren Handlungsspielraum eröffnen. Zudem...

Was kann in Europa getan werden, damit Wachstumsprognosen der EU wieder nach oben korrigiert werden und die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Europas wieder hergestellt wird? Nach Ansicht von Werner Hoyer, Präsident der Europäischen Investitionsbank, sollten die Schaffung günstiger Rahmenbedingungen...

We develop a sovereign debt model with official and private creditors where default risk depends on both the level and the composition of liabilities. Higher exposure to official lenders improves incentives to repay but carries extra costs, such as reduced ex-post flexibility. The model implies...