The article documents the discussion of a workshop on the Riester saving which took place at DIW Berlin. Workshop participants included scientists, consumer advocates, representatives from the financial services industry, and politicians. The workshop addressed a number of controversial topics,...

Analyses based on data from the Zulagenstelle für Altersvermögen (ZfA) show a high proportion of low wage earners among Riester-Rente savers. This result cannot be generalized to the population because the data include only Riester-Rente savers. However, analyses based on the Socio-Economic...

This paper shows the dynamic effects of the reform of the Spanish social security pension system on the pensions received by one of the most vulnerable groups of the population, namely, widows. We undertake a duration analysis to account for the effects of reform over time. We study the effects...

This paper investigates how government transfers affect economic growth. Using meta-analysis techniques, we systematically review 24 primary studies with 164 estimates that examine the effect of government transfers on economic growth. After addressing heterogeneity and issues of publication...

Though the main benchmark used to assess pension reforms continues to be the expected resulting fall in future government spending, the impact of policy changes on pension adequacy is increasingly coming to the fore. As yet, there does not seem to be a broad consensus in policymaking circles and...

This work aims to contribute to the contingency view of the relationships between social protection and economic performances, by exploring under what conditions social expenditure is productivity-enhancing or not. Well-designed welfare states and fit socio-economic contexts can yield direct and...

Since the 1990s reforms have changed substantially both the nature of state pension provision and the level of generosity. This article tries to assess the impact of these changes using estimates of pension wealth for a number of hypothetical cases. By focusing on all prospective pension...

In this lecture, I will try to start answering the question of whether the pension reforms enacted in Europe since the 1990s will prove to be sustainable. This broad question has embedded in it both theoretical and empirical sub-questions. On the theoretical side, I will need to see how best to...

The Coalition's record on working age social security is reviewed under the headings of continuity (with the policies of the previous government), retrenchment and reform. Under continuity, the Coalition's decision to proceed with the previous government's planned reassessment of incapacity...

Europe’s pensions landscape has changed dramatically since the 1990s. This paper tries to assess better the impact of these changes using a broad social sustainability framework. Pension wealth estimates for a variety of hypothetical cases are used to assess the ability of systems to alleviate...