This paper makes two contributions to the literature. First, by employing a macrolevel institutional dataset on benefit levels for social assistance (SA) and minimum income protection (MIP) in 22 European countries in the period 1990–2013, I show that the adequacy of income support for low-income inactive individuals in European welfare states has been steadily decreasing since 1994. Second, th...

Germany is in a dilemma. Low wage competition via product and factor markets increases the demands on the welfare state, but increased systems competition in the context of international factor mobility reduces the possibilities of maintaining it. The welfare state has important allocative functions. It is an insurance against career risks and it stimulates risk taking and economic growth. Howe...

In this paper we analyze the attitudes of residents of transition countries with speci…c focus on whether they have a strong taste for income redistribution. We implement emprical strategies to test the implications of the basic theoretical models in the literature regarding preferences for redistribution. Empirical models of survey respondent’s preference for redistribution, willingness to pay...

This paper provides a life-cycle framework for weighing up the insurance value of disability bene ts agains the incentive cost. Within this framework, we estimate the life-cycle risks that individuals face in the US, as well as the parameters governing the disability insurance program, using indirect inference and longitudinal data on consumption, disability status, disability insurance receipt...

We evaluate the treatment e¤ect of disability grant program using matching methods. A variety of propensity score matching methods applied, show that, on average, the disability grant program has large and signi…cant e¤ects on lowering labour force participation rates of grant recipients. In particular the General Household Survey data we use show that labour force participation rates of Disabi...

This paper exploits a natural policy experiment to directly identify the crowding out effects of public transfers on the incidence and level of private transfers. The introduction of a large social security program in Taiwan is used to estimate the effect of an exogenous increase in government transfer payments to the elderly on the private transfer behavior of their adult children. Using an in...

This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. The present paper reviews key issues in pension design and pe...