Longevity, Life-Cycle Behavior and Pension Reform

43 Pages Posted: 24 Jul 2011

See all articles by Peter Haan

Peter Haan

DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Victoria L. Prowse

Purdue University - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)

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Abstract

How can public pension systems be reformed to ensure fiscal stability in the face of increasing life expectancy? To address this pressing open question in public finance, we estimate a life-cycle model in which the optimal employment, retirement and consumption decisions of forward-looking individuals depend, inter alia, on life expectancy and the design of the public pension system. We calculate that, in the case of Germany, the fiscal consequences of the 6.4 year increase in age 65 life expectancy anticipated to occur over the 40 years that separate the 1942 and 1982 birth cohorts can be offset by either an increase of 4.34 years in the full pensionable age or a cut of 37.7% in the per-year value of public pension benefits. Of these two distinct policy approaches to coping with the fiscal consequences of improving longevity, increasing the full pensionable age generates the largest responses in labor supply and retirement behavior.

Keywords: life expectancy, public pension reform, retirement, employment, life-cycle models, consumption, tax and transfer system

JEL Classification: D91, J11, J22, J26, J64

Suggested Citation

Haan, Peter and Prowse, Victoria L., Longevity, Life-Cycle Behavior and Pension Reform. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5858, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1893938 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1893938

Peter Haan (Contact Author)

DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Victoria L. Prowse

Purdue University - Department of Economics ( email )

West Lafayette, IN 47907-1310
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

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