Michael Hofmann Gerhard Kempkes () Helmut Seitz ()
Abstract
This paper examines the effects of demographic change on public finances in a federal system. We develop a simple methodical procedure to measure the effect of demographic changes on public revenues and expenditures. We apply our method to the local, state and federal government sector as well as on the social security system in Germany. Our results suggest that demographic change will lead to significant vertical fiscal imbalances between the different layers of government. In addition we show, that subnational governments can generate a demographic dividend whereas the social security system and the federal government have to carry an additional burden due to ageing.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by CESifo GmbH in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number
CESifo Working Paper No. 2317.
Find related papers by JEL classification: H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government H68 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Forecasts of Budgets, Deficits, and Debt H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends and Forecasts