Socio-economic differences in longevity have fuelled a debate whether pension systems have a regressive bias favouring groups with a high life expectancy. We show that the distributional implications of such pooling depend critically on the benefit profile across age/time, which in turn is...

We build on recent developments in the theory of money and liquidity to provide a qualitative and quantitative explanation for the well-known TIPS illiquidity vis-'a-vis non-inflation-protected Treasuries. Our model does not assume exogenous differences between the markets where the two assets...

We examine the inflation-hedging properties of various financial assets and portfolios by estimating simple time-series models of the joint dynamics of each asset-inflation pair, for multiple inflation indices and at horizons from one month to 30 years. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to...

This paper presents a new global dataset on current practices for four budget items in terms of indexation to the price level and other nominal variables. Compiling data from documents of select multilateral organizations, governments, and related literature as well as conducting a survey among...

Index insurance programs in developing countries have focused almost entirely on agricultural production risk (yield), while largely avoiding output marketing risk (price). This omission may miss an important constraint on smallholder investment and may partially explain underwhelming demand for...

Passively managed funds have grown to become some of the largest shareholders in publicly traded companies, but there is considerable debate about the effects of this growth on corporate governance. The goal of this paper is to review the literature on the governance implications of passive fund...

Much of the opposition to indexation as a means of adapting to on going inflation arises from the view that indexation is itself inflationary. This paper examines the basis for that view in a simple macroeconomic model in which budget deficits are in part financed through the printing of money....

This paper considers the possible employment effects of reforming minimum-wage policy to incorporate indexation of the nominal minimum wage .The analysis assumes that both the demand for the labor services of minimum-wage workers and the setting of the nominal minimum wage rate under existing...