This paper examines the impact of family background on wages and returns to education. Using data from the GSOEP, we show that family background matters in the determination of wages. Moreover, returns to education appear to be heterogeneous with family background accounting for part of this...

Due to population aging, contribution rates of the mandatory German pay-as-you-go pension system are expected to increase dramatically during the next decades. This paper estimates the impact on the expected returns of contributions for different cohorts. I show that rates of return for younger...

Germany has one of the most generous public pension and health insurance systems of the world, yet private savings are high until old age. Savings remain positive in old age, even for most low income households. How can we explain what we might want to term the 'German savings puzzle?' We...

This paper estimates the life-cycle income of West-German households. The empirical analysis is based on the Income and Expenditure Surveys from 1978 to 1993 (EVS), and on social security data. While cross-section estimates suggest a marked decline of household incomes starting at age 45 of the...

Aim of this paper is to study the provision of income to the elderly in Germany and to assess whether the German social security system provides an adequate retirement income in a sustainable way. Accordingly, the paper has two parts. The first part describes the German public old age social...

Ich bestimme die Entwicklung von Vermögen und Ersparnis westdeutscher Haushalte über den Lebenszyklus. Die Analyse beruht auf den Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichproben der Jahre 1978 bis 1993. Weder die mittleren Kohortenprofile des Vermögens noch die mittlere Ersparnis zeigen am Ende des...

With rising contributions and decreasing returns of the German Pay-As-You-Go pension system the economic incentives to participate in the system are diminishing. Fairly little is known about the behavioral reactions of persons who are making contributions. This is ¹ at least in part ¹ due to...

This paper calculates intergenerational distribution effects of a reform of the German public old age social security program (äGesetzliche Rentenversicherung''). The paper first presents the key features of the public pension system and describes the effects of holding the contribution rate...

This paper describes the German public old age social security program ("Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung") and its incentive effects on retirement decisions. The paper presents the key features of the system and expresses retirement incentives in form of accrual rates of social security wealth...