Any meaningful reform of the US Social Security system must deal with the system's current outstanding accumulated unfunded liabilities. The authors model these as a once-off financial liability payable 'tomorrow'. They show that if the equity premium puzzle arises from adverse selection...

We investigate channels of federally provided income insurance for U.S. States, finding that a major part of federal insurance is provided through transfers. We compare the "bang for the buck" of various fiscal institutions, finding that unemployment benefits are dramatically more efficient in...

Any meaningful reform of the US Social Security system must deal with the system's current outstanding accumulated unfunded liabilities. The authors model these as a once-off financial liability payable 'tomorrow'. They show that if the equity premium puzzle arises from adverse selection...

This paper seeks to contribute to debate on the issue of reform of pension systems in the EU, in the context of the direct effects of such provisions on fiscal policy.

A partly heuristic attempt at exploring long-run policies aimed at a second-best compromis between ex ante risk-sharing efficiency and ex post productive efficiency. Wage subsidies for low-skilled workers financed vy taxes on high wages are advocated, together with imposed risk sharing between...

A common view in public finance is that there is an efficiency-redistribution tradeoff in which distortions are tolerated in order to redistribute income. However, the fact thatso much public- and private redistributive activity involves in-kind transfers rather than cash may be indicative of...

Arguments are presented in the case of Eastern European transition countries for combining the restructuring of insolvent pay-as-you-go retirement systems with the introduction of mandatory, private, funded pensions. They involve the reduction of dead-weight loss, the return to formal activity...