In view of the rapidly rising contribution rates in the Statutory Health Insurance system and the persistently high unemployment rate, Germany has recently debated radical changes in the mode of health care financing. Among the controversial reform proposals were the possible expansion of...

Pay-as-you-go financed social security systems imply transfers of life time income not only among generational cohorts, but also between fam ilies of different size and generational composition. Whereas previou s models of voting on social security in democratic societies focusse d on the first...

In response to the growing burden of obesity, public primary prevention programs against obesity have been widely recommended. Several studies estimated the cost effects of diabetes prevention trials for different countries and found that diabetes prevention can be costeffective. Nevertheless,...

Most systems of health care financing in EU member states currently include elements of income redistribution. The paper analyzes the effects of shifting this kind of redistribution to the tax system and argues that this reform could create two types of efficiency gains. On the expenditure side,...

In a recent paper, Pratt and Zeckhauser (JPE, 1996) discuss the measure of individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for the reduction of risks to their lives which should be used for public decisions on risk-reducing projects. They suggest to correct observed WTP for the "dead-anyway" effect, which...

In response to the growing burden of obesity, public primary prevention programs against obesity have been widely recommended. Several studies estimated the cost effects of diabetes prevention trials for different countries and found that diabetes prevention can be costeffective. Nevertheless,...