Axel Börsch-Supan () (Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA))
Abstract
Germany relies almost exclusively on a public pay-as-you-go pension system for old-age in-come provision. This mandatory “retirement insurance” has become under severe pressure, mainly from population aging and from incentive effects that have reduced labor supply. This paper argues Germany needs a pension reform with three main elements: (1) A reformed pay-as-you-go pillar which is actuarially fair, features a transparent notional account set-up, and freezes contribution rates at the current level; (2) A second funded pillar which is based on US 401(k)-style grouped accounts that finance the impending aging burden; (3) Augmented by redistributive features that guarantee a minimum pension and strengthen human capital formation. The paper briefly discusses the sources of the current problems, details the reform proposal, in particular the cohort- and time-varying transition burden which turns out to be rather moderate, and sheds light on the side effects of such a transition on the German macro economy which are more subtle than is often claimed.
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Paper provided by Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim in its series MEA discussion paper series with number
02002.
Length: Date of creation: 10 Jan 2002 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:mea:meawpa:02002
Contact details of provider: Postal: MEA - Mannheimer Forschungsinstitut Ökonomie und Demographischer Wandel, L13, 17, University of Mannheim, 68131 Mannheim Phone: +49/621/181.1862 Fax: +49/621/181.1863 Web page: http://www.mea.uni-mannheim.de/
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Find related papers by JEL classification: Z00 - Other Special Topics - - General - - - General
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.:
Axel Borsch-Supan & Reinhold Schnabel, 1999.
"Social Security and Retirement in Germany,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Social Security and Retirement around the World, pages 135-180
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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