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Pension Reform Preferences in Germany: Does Information Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Jana Schuetz
  • Silke Uebelmesser
  • Ronja Baginski
  • Carmela Aprea

Abstract

Demographic change has an impact on pay-as-you-go pension systems. To maintain their financial sustainability, reforms are necessary, but often lack public support. Based on representative survey data from Germany, we conduct a survey experiment which allows investigating whether salience of or information about demographic change enhances preferences towards reforms in general as well as towards specific reform measures. We find that salience and information provision significantly increase the perceived reform necessity. Furthermore, salience increases preferences for an increase of the retirement age over other reform measures, while information provision reduces preferences for tax subsidies. In addition, we highlight the impact of prior beliefs on the treatment effects. As the salience and the information treatments barely differ, we conclude that it is not the information about the demographic change, which matters. Rather, being made aware of the challenges of the pension system impacts reform preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Jana Schuetz & Silke Uebelmesser & Ronja Baginski & Carmela Aprea, 2022. "Pension Reform Preferences in Germany: Does Information Matter?," CESifo Working Paper Series 10072, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10072
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian & Katherine L. Milkman, 2015. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1161-1201, June.
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    9. Finseraas, Henning & Jakobsson, Niklas & Svensson, Mikael, 2017. "Do knowledge gains from public information campaigns persist over time? Results from a survey experiment on the Norwegian pension reform," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 108-117, January.
    10. Axel Börsch-Supan & Johannes Rausch & Hermann Buslei & Johannes Geyer, 2020. "Entwicklung der Demographie, der Erwerbstätigkeit sowie des Leistungsniveaus und der Finanzierung der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1857, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elisa Stumpf & Jana Schuetz & Silke Uebelmesser & Ronja Baginski & Carmela Aprea, 2024. "Beliefs about demographic change: How well are individuals informed?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2024-003, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    pension reform preference; survey experiment; demographic change; information provision;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General

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