Pension Funding and Individual Accounts in Economies with Life-cyclers and Myopes

The present paper studies the growth and efficiency consequences of pension funding with individual retirement accounts in a general equilibrium overlapping generations model with idiosyncratic lifespan and labor income uncertainty. We distinguish between economies with rational and hyperbolic consumers and compare the consequences of voluntary and mandatory retirement plans. Three major findings are derived in our study: First, we quantify the commitment effect of social security for myopic individuals by roughly 1 percent of aggregate resources. It is possible to recapture this commitment technology in IRAs, if those are annuitized. Second, despite the fact that our consumers have an operative bequest motive, the welfare gain from the (implicit) longevity insurance of the pension system is significant and amounts to roughly 0.5 percent of aggregate resources. However, mandatory annuitization reduces unintended bequests so that future generations are significantly hurt. Finally, our results highlight the importance of liquidity effects for social security analysis. These efficiency gains are only attainable if accounts are voluntary and not mandatory.individual retirement accounts, annuities, stochastic general equilibrium, hyperbolic consumers

Social Security with Rational and Hyperbolic Consumers

The present paper studies the role of social security in an economy populated by overlapping generations of individuals that have time-consistent or time-inconsistent preferences, face mortality and individual income risk, borrowing constraints as well as progressive income taxes. Our simulations start from an artificial equilibrium where social security is completely neutral. Next we introduce successively alternative deviations from neutrality in order to isolate the various economic effects of social security. The latter are mainly the insurance provision against mortality and income risk, the negative liquidity effects for young households and the provision of a commitment technology for present-biased hyperbolic consumers. Our simulations indicate that the positive effects of social security dominate the negative ones for a wide range of parameter combinations. For our central parametrization social security induces an overall welfare gain which amounts to roughly 1.5 percent of aggregate resources in the hyperbolic model and a welfare loss of about 0.5 percent of resources in the model with rational consumers.social security, stochastic general equilibrium, hyperbolic consumers

Should Pensions be Progressive? Yes, at least in Germany!

Recent reforms that aim at reducing the upcoming burdens of population ageing might seriously harm low income individuals. An increase in old-age poverty and disability will be the result. Under this prospect, the present paper quantitatively characterizes the optimal progressivity of unfunded pension systems in an overlapping generations model with idiosyncratic income, disability and longevity risk as well as endogenous labor supply at the intensive and extensive margin. Focusing on the German pension system, our model features the most recent demographic projections and distinguishes three skill classes with skill-dependent risk profiles. Starting from a baseline path that reflects a purely earnings related pension system, we increase the degree of progressivity and compute the resulting macroeconomic, welfare and efficiency effects. For our most preferred parametrization we find an optimal flat-rate pension share of 40 percent. This indicates that in Germany recent reforms that aim at raising retirement age and cutting benefit levels should be complemented by increases in pension progressivity, since improved insurance provision dominates higher labor supply distortions. In addition, we also find that reductions in the benefit level (i.e. privatization) will only reduce economic efficiency.stochastic OLG model, tax-benefit linkage, endogenous retirement, population ageing

Marital Risk, Family Insurance, and Public Policy

The present paper aims to quantify the growth and welfare consequences of changing family structures in western societies. For this reason we develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with both genders which takes into account changes of the marital status as a stochastic process. Individuals respond to these shocks by adjusting savings and labor supply. Our quantitative results indicate that the declining number of marriages coupled with increasing divorce rates had a profound effect on macroeconomic variables and long-run welfare. We find a significant increase in aggregate capital accumulation and a rising labor market participation of women. In addition, our simulations indicate that the change in the marital structure had significant negative welfare consequences for women who lost between 0.4 and 2.2 percent of aggregate resources. The impact on men's welfare, however, could be positive or negative depending on the specific calibration.family formation, stochastic general equilibrium, life cycle model

Tax-Favored Retirement Accounts: Are they Efficient in Increasing Savings and Growth?

The present paper aims to quantify the macroeconomic and welfare effects of taxfavored retirement accounts. Starting from an equilibrium without saving incentives, we introduce such accounts and compute the new transition path and the resulting long-run equilibrium. Since our overlapping-generations model comprises a detailed progressive tax system, borrowing constraints as well as stochastic income risk, we can compare macroeconomic and liquidity effects, tax distortions and the insurance properties of the policy reform. Our simulations indicate that tax-favored retirement accounts as implemented in many OECD countries will have a significant impact on capital accumulation and wage growth in the long run, but only yield insignificant aggregate efficiency changes. While elderly generations are typically hurt by such a reform, young and future generations benefit. Finally, with respect to the intragenerational redistribution, a subsidy system that includes direct bonus payments might be preferred to a system with pure tax deductions.Savings incentives, stochastic general equilibrium model

Distinguishing between MSSM and NMSSM with e\gamma Scattering

We study the associated production of selectrons and neutralinos with subsequent leptonic decay of the selectron in e\gamma scattering within the framework of MSSM and NMSSM. Due to the weak couplings of singlino dominated neutralinos, associated neutralino production e^+ + e^- -> neutralino_1 + neutralino_2 at a linear collider can be strongly suppressed in some regions of the parameter space. Then the process e + gamma -> selectron_{L/R} + neutralino_{1/2} -> e + neutralino_{1/2} + neutralino_1 can give additional informations on the underlying theory and the character of neutralino_1 and neutralino_2.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figeres, LaTex, Talk Given at the International Workshop on High Energy Photon Colliders, DESY Hamburg, June 14-17, 200

Pension funding and individual accounts in economies with life-cyclers and myopes

The present paper Studies the growth and efficiency consequences of pension funding with individual retirement accounts in a general equilibrium overlapping generations model with idiosyncratic lifespan and labor income uncertainty. We distinguish between economies with rational and hyperbolic consumers and compare the consequences of voluntary and mandatory retirement plans. Three major findings are derived in our study: First, we quantify the commitment effect of social security for myopic individuals by roughly 1 percent of aggregate resources. It is possible to recapture this commitment technology in IRAs, if those are annuitized. Second, despite the fact that our consumers have an operative bequest motive, the welfare gain from the (implicit) longevity insurance of the pension system is significant and amounts to roughly 0.5 percent of aggregate resources. However, mandatory annuitization reduces unintended bequests so that future generations are significantly hurt. Finally, our results highlight the importance of liquidity effects for social security analysis. These efficiency gains are only attainable if accounts are voluntary and not mandatory

Dermaptera from Cyprus and Turkey.

Forficula smyrnensis Serville, 1839 wird erstmals von Zypern, Forficula lurida Fischer, 1853 und Labidura riparia (Pallas, 1773) werden aus der Türkei nachgewiesen. Eine Liste der bisher von Zypern und der Türkei bekannten Dermapteren wird vorgelegt. Darminhaltsuntersuchungen von Forficula lurida und Labidura riparia deuten auf eine carnivore Ernährungsweise hin; dagegen wurden bei Forficula smyrnensis ausschließlich pflanzliche Nahrungsreste gefunden.StichwörterForficula, Labidura, Turkey, Cyprus, Asia Minor, gut contents, feeding.Forficula smyrnensis Serville, 1839 is recorded for the first time from Cyprus, and Forficula lurida Fischer, 1853 and Labidura riparia (Pallas, 1773) are again recorded from Turkey. A list of Cypriot and Turkish Dermaptera previously recorded is given. The gut contents of Forficula lurida and Labidura riparia suggests carnivorous feeding habits, whereas in Forficula smyrnensis only plant fragments found.KeywordsForficula, Labidura, Turkey, Cyprus, Asia Minor, gut contents, feeding

Digitalization in Thermodynamics

Digitalization is about data and how they are used. This has always been a key topic in applied thermodynamics. In the present work, the influence of the current wave of digitalization on thermodynamics is analyzed. Thermodynamic modeling and simulation is changing as large amounts of data of different nature and quality become easily available. The power and complexity of thermodynamic models and simulation techniques is rapidly increasing, and new routes become viable to link them to the data. Machine learning opens new perspectives, when it is suitably combined with classical thermodynamic theory. Illustrated by examples, different aspects of digitalization in thermodynamics are discussed: strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats

Pionic Final State Interactions and the Hypertriton Lifetime

We analyze the contribution of pionic final state interactions (FSI) in the weak decay of the hypertriton. Focusing on the $^3$He channel, we find a contribution of the pionic FSI of the order of $18\%$. Assuming a fixed value for the branching ratio $R_3$ for the decay width into $^3$He over the decay width into $^3$He and $pd$ final states, we find values for the hypertriton lifetime that are consistent with the world average as well as recent measurements by the ALICE Collaboration.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure