This paper studies the elimination of traditional pensions and subsequent adoption of 401(k) plans by U.S. employers. Using thousands of firm-level natural experiments, it shows that unexpected losses in future compensation engendered by pension plan transitions induce premature retirement for...

In der Juniausgabe 2021 veröffentlichte der Wirtschaftsdienst einen Aufsatz mit dem Titel "Beitragsfinanzierung im "demografiegestressten" Rentensystem möglich" von Ernst Niemeier. Martin Werding vertritt in einer Replik eine andere Auffassung, im Anschluss erläutert Ernst Niemeier seinen...

This PhD dissertation consists of four self-contained chapters. The first two chapters study how the design of public pension systems affect individuals' behavior. The first chapter studies how pension eligibility ages impact the retirement behavior of couples. The second chapter explores how...

We study the labor supply implications of the Old-Age Pension Act (OPA) of 1908, which, for the first time, provided pensions to older people in the UK. Using recently released census data covering the entire population, we exploit variation at the newly created age-based eligibility threshold....

We study the effects of two exogenous modificationsin the Swedish pension system application formnudgingindividuals towards a fixed-term payout.Meanwhile, the set of available options and the default option-life annuity -were unchanged during the period under study. We examine the effects on...

Die Unzulänglichkeiten der Alterssicherungssysteme in Deutschland und insbesondere der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung, in ausreichendem Maße auf den demographischen Wandel zu reagieren und sich an diesen - im Sinne der Generationengerechtigkeit - anzupassen, sind seit Jahrzehnten bekannt. Der...

Pension taxation has large budgetary and distributional effects, in particular in the light of ageing societies and the importance of pension benefits in old-age income. This paper investigates the impact of taxing public and mandatory occupational old-age pensions in the EU, focusing on both...

Increasing retirement ages in an automatic or scheduled way with increasing life expectancy at retirement is a popular pension policy response to continuous longevity improvements. The question addressed here is: to what extent is simply adopting this approach likely to fulfill the overall goals...

As the heterogeneity in life expectancy by socioeconomic status increases, pension systems become more regressive implying wealth transfers from short to long lived individuals. Various pension reforms aim to reduce these inequalities that are caused by ex-ante differences in life expectancy....

The demographic transition is a phenomenon affecting many industrialized societies. These economies are experiencing a decline in mortality alongside low fertility rates - a situation that puts social security systems under severe pressure. To implement appropriate reform measures, adequate...

Trotz des demografischen Wandels ist ein beitragsfinanziertes Rentensystem in Deutschland möglich und wünschenswert. Ein Rentenniveau von beispielsweise 50 % kann auch nach 2030 noch über Beiträge finanziert werden. Zum einen übersteigt die Produktivitäts- und Einkommensentwicklung die...

In der Juniausgabe 2021 veröffentlichte der Wirtschaftsdienst einen Aufsatz mit dem Titel "Beitragsfinanzierung im "demografiegestressten" Rentensystem möglich" von Ernst Niemeier. Martin Werding vertritt in einer Replik eine andere Auffassung, im Anschluss erläutert Ernst Niemeier seinen...

We study the interactions between capital income tax and social security privatization in the context of rising longevity. In an economy with idiosyncratic income shocks, redistributive defined benefit social security provides some insurance against income uncertainty. This insurance comes at...

This paper provides novel evidence on the labor supply response to negative income shocks in retirement, exploiting an institutional feature that caused differential and unexpected income losses among otherwise identical individuals in a sharp regression discontinuity design. We conclude that...

We discuss public pension systems in a multi-period overlapping generations model with gerontologically founded human aging and a special focus on occupation-specific morbidity and mortality. We examine how distinct replacement rates for white-collar and blue-collar workers and early retirement...

We study how social security influences the retirement behavior of couples. First, we exploit over two decades of full-population data and a discontinuity design to document sizable retirement spillovers to spouses when individuals reach pension eligibility age. Next, we explore underlying...

We examine the gender wealth gap with a focus on pension wealth and statutory pension rights. By taking into account employment characteristics of women and men, we are able and identify the extent to which the redistributive effect of pension rights reduces the gap. The empirical basis of this...

This paper documents the patterns and correlates of retirement in China using a nationally representative survey, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). After documenting stark differences in retirement ages between urban and rural residents, the paper shows that China's...

This paper examines the empirical link between retirement and the supply of volunteer labor, using panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. To identify the causal impact, we exploit a major reform of the Australian Age Pension which has significantly...

Continuous longevity improvements and population ageing have led countries to modify national public pension schemes by increasing the standard and early retirement ages in a discretionary, scheduled, or automatic way, and by making it harder for people to retire prematurely. To this end,...

Introduced 20 years ago as a part of the 2001 pension reform, the Riester pension is meant to function as an essential component of the German pension system with the aim of compensating for decreasing public pensions. However, data collected by the SOEP show that this objective has not yet been...

This study analyzes the causal effect of an increase in the retirement age on health. We exploit a sizable cohort-specific pension reform for women using two complementary empirical approaches - a Regression Discontinuity Design and a Difference-in- Differences approach. The analysis is based on...

Am 26. September 2021 wurde der 20. Bundestag gewählt. Auf die Abgeordneten und die neue Bundesregierung kommen große Aufgaben zu. Demografie, Klimawandel und Digitalisierung sind drei zentrale Herausforderungen, die es in der neuen Legislaturperiode anzupacken und nachhaltig zu bewältigen...

How social protection programmes affect work choices is a question that has been at the centre of labour economics research for decades. More recently, a scant literature has focused on the effects of social protection on work choices and informal employment in the context of low- and...