Reforms of the public pension systems are on top of the European policy agenda. Current costs are high, and the pressures will increase due to population aging and negative incentive effects. This paper describes the causes of the current pension problems and the cures required to make the...

Housing Demand in Germany and Japan Paper in memoriam of Stephen Mayo

This mea discussion paper presents excerpts of the International Savings Comparison Project covering household savings behaviour in seven countries. The whole series of comparative country studies can be found in a special issue of the journal “Research in Economics”, Volume 55, Number 2,...

Ageing is one of the greatest social and economic challenges of the 21st century in Europe. SHARE, a EU-sponsored project that will build up a Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe, will be a fundamental resource for science and public policy to help mastering this unprecedented...

Dieser Beitrag versucht, die wichtigsten Auswirkungen der Bevölkerungsalterung auf den Arbeits-markt zu studieren und daraus Konsequenzen für die Finanzpolitik im weitesten Sinne zu ziehen. Der Beitrag zeigt, daß es neben dem sattsam diskutierten alterungsbedingten Anstieg der Beitrags- und...

This paper has two parts. Part 1 presents the basic ideas underlying notional defined contribution (NDC) systems and discusses their main advantages and disadvantages. We argue that a NDC system is mainly a political device. It makes parametric reform, badly needed to stabilize the pay-as-you-go...