Convergence to the Centre -- Financial Markets: Banks Capital Markets -- Firm Size, Productivity, EU-Funds and Corruption -- Labour Markets: Structural Characteristics and the Impact of Two Crises -- Transport and Mobility -- Monetary, Macroprudential, and Fiscal Policy -- Green Economy: Energy,...

Economic theory does not give clear predictions on the impact of social security on private wealth. The theoretical ambiguity and practical importance generated a large stream of empirical research. In this paper, we review the available evidence on displacement effects of social security. Our...

argue that the offsetting effect of social security contributions on household retirement saving depends on how closely the social security programme imitates a private retirement saving plan (i.e. the ‘actuarial’ component of the social security programme) the closer the design of the...

Imperial chancellor Bismarck’s system of social insurance (with its three pillars health, accident and pension insurance) was an important role model for social security systems across Europe and in the US. How the introduction of the German system changed economic expectations and decisions...