Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/19060 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2005
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 1596
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Since its inception, the traditional form of providing survivor benefits within public pension schemes has lost much of its legitimacy. As a result of fundamental changes in marriage behaviour and the typical division of labour between married spouses, offering noncontributory benefits of this kind could be seen as inequitable. Since these benefits usually substitute for non-derived pension entitlements based on the surviving spouse's own contributions, they can also lead to incentive effects, especially for married women with some degree of labour-force attachment, that appear to be far from optimal. The present paper highlights this problem referring to institutional details and empirical results related to Germany and shows how it could be resolved by jointly annuitizing a given couple's pension entitlements.
Subjects: 
public pensions
survivor benefits
female labour supply
optimal taxation
JEL: 
J16
J22
H55
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.