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Assessing Welfare Accounts

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Author Info
Fölster, Stefan (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise)
Gidehag, Robert (The Swedish Research Institute of Trade)
Orszag, Mike (Watson Wyatt and IZA Bonn)
Snower, Dennis () (Birkbeck College, University of London, CEPR and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

The paper examines the possible effects of introducing a large-scale welfare reform in Sweden, namely, the introduction of comprehensive welfare accounts. Under this policy, individuals make mandatory contributions to accounts, which they can top up with voluntary contributions. In return, individuals’ welfare benefits are paid from their accounts. The paper uses a large panel of individual income data to examine how the adoption of universal welfare accounts may affect economic activity. We find that this policy could be designed so as to reduce social insurance expenditure considerably, improve the incentives to work and save, all with relatively small redistributive impact.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 533.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp533

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Related research
Keywords: welfare reform; welfare accounts; social insurance; taxes; welfare state benefits;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Martin Feldstein & Daniel Altman, 1998. "Unemployment Insurance Savings Accounts," NBER Working Papers 6860, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Orszag, J. Michael & Snower, Dennis, 2002. "From Unemployment Benefits to Unemployment Accounts," IZA Discussion Papers 532, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. A. Lans Bovenberg & Peter Birch Sørensen, . "Optimal Taxation and Social Insurance in a Lifetime Perspective," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-01, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Lans Bovenberg & Peter Birch Sorensen, 2003. "Improving the Equity-Efficiency Trade-off: Mandatory Savings Accounts for Social Insurance," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. R.A. de Mooij, 2004. "Towards efficient unemployment insurance in the Netherlands," CPB Memoranda 100, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  4. A. Bovenberg, 2005. "Balancing Work and Family Life during the Life Course," De Economist, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 399-423, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Peter Birch Sørensen & Martin Ino Hansen & A. Lans Bovenberg, 2006. "Savings Accounts and the Life-Cycle Approach to Social Insurance," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-03, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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