Does raising the retirement age increase employment of older workers?

Two pension reforms in Austria increased the early retirement age from 60 to 62 for men and from 55 to 58.25 for women. The reforms reduced early retirement by 18.9 percentage points among affected men aged 60-62 and by 22.3 percentage points among affected women aged 55-58.25. The associated increase in employment was merely 6.8 percentage points among men and 10.1 percentage points among women. The reforms had large spillover effects to the unemployment insurance program but negligible effects on disability insurance claims. Specifically, unemployment increased by roughly 10 percentage points both among men and women. Spillover effects had substantial fiscal implications. Absent spillover effects, the reduction of net government expenditures would have amounted to 264 million Euros per year. Due to higher unemployment insurance claims and associated foregone income tax revenues the actual reduction was only 148 million Euros. High-wage and healthy workers carried the bulk of the fall in net government expenditures. Low-wage and less healthy workers generated much less government savings as they either continue to retire early via disability pensions or bridge the gap to regular retirement by drawing unemployment benefits.Retirement age, policy reform, labor supply, disability, unemployment

Does Raising the Retirement Age Increase Employment of Older Workers?

This paper studies how an increase in the minimum retirement age affects the labor market behavior of older workers. Between 2000 and 2006 the Austrian government gradually increased the early retirement age from 60 to 62.2 for men and from 55 to 57.2 for women. Using administrative data on the universe of Austrian private-sector employees, the results from the empirical analysis suggest that this policy change reduced retirement by 19 percentage points among affected men and by 25 percentage points among affected women. The decline in retirement was accompanied by a sizeable increase in employment of 7 percentage points among men and 10 percentage points among women, but had also a important spillover effects into the unemployment insurance program. Specifically, the unemployment rate increased by 10 percentage points among men and 11 percentage points among women. In contrast, the policy change had only a small impact on the share of individuals claiming disability or partial retirement benefits.Early retirement, retirement age, labor supply, policy reform

Does Raising the Retirement Age Increase Employment of Older Workers?

This paper studies how an increase in the minimum retirement age affects the labor market behavior of older workers. Between 2000 and 2006 the Austrian government gradually increased the early retirement age from 60 to 62.2 for men and from 55 to 57.2 for women. Using administrative data on the universe of Austrian private-sector employees, the results from the empirical analysis suggest that this policy change reduced retirement by 19 percentage points among affected men and by 25 percentage points among affected women. The decline in retirement was accompanied by a sizeable increase in employment of 7 percentage points among men and 10 percentage points among women, but had also important spillover effects into the unemployment insurance program. Specifically, the unemployment rate increased by 10 percentage points among men and 11 percentage points among women. In contrast, the policy change had only a small impact on the share of individuals claiming disability or partial retirement benefits.early retirement, retirement age, labor supply, policy reform

How Much Do Means-Tested Benefits Reduce the Demand for Annuities?

We analyze the effect of means-tested benefits on annuitization decisions. Most industrialized countries provide a subsistence level consumption floor in old age, usually in the form of means-tested benefits. The availability of such means-tested payments creates an incentive to cash out (occupational) pension wealth for low and middle income earners, instead of taking the annuity. Agents trade-off the advantages from annuitization, receiving the wealth-enhancing mortality credit, to the disadvantages, giving up “free” wealth in the form of means-tested supplemental benefits. We find that the availability of means-tested benefits can reduce the desired annuitization levels substantially. Using individual level data, we show that the model’s predicted annuitization rates as a function of the level of pension wealth are roughly consistent with the cash-out patterns of occupational pension wealth observed in Switzerland.means-tested benefits, occupational pension, annuity, life-cycle model

How Much Do Means-Tested Benefits Reduce the Demand for Annuities?

We analyze the effect of means-tested benefits on annuitization decisions. Most industrialized countries provide a subsistence level consumption floor in old age, usually in the form of means-tested benefits or income supplements. The availability of such meanstested payments creates an incentive to cash out (occupational) pension wealth for low and middle income earners, instead of taking the annuity. Agents trade-off the advantages from annuitization, receiving the wealth-enhancing mortality credit, to the disadvantages, giving up "free" wealth in the form of means-tested supplemental benefits. We show that the availability of means-tested benefits can reduce the desired annuitization levels substantially. Moreover, the model's predicted annuitization rates as a function of the level of pension wealth are roughly consistent with the cash-out patterns of occupational pension wealth observed in Switzerland.Means-Tested Benefits, Occupational Pension, Annuity.

Polizeiarbeit zwischen Kontrolle und Fürsorge

Polizeiarbeit steht im Spannungsfeld zwischen dem Ausüben von sozialer Kontrolle und dem sich Kümmern um vulnerable Personen. Hierbei arbeitet die Polizei Hand in Hand mit weiteren Akteuren aus dem privaten und öffentlichen Bereich. Daneben steht die Polizei im Fokus der Öffentlichkeit und ihre Arbeit, z.B. in Form von Personenkontrollen, wird von der Gesellschaft vermehrt kritisch beäugt. Rund um solche Themen wurde am 22. März 2017 eine Tagung an der Universität Fribourg organisiert. Die Referentinnen und Referenten stammten aus der Wissenschaft, der Polizei und der aufsuchenden Sozialarbeit. Der vorliegende Forumsbeitrag fasst die Vorträge zusammen und erläutert die Zusammenhänge

Kindesmisshandlung

Zusammenfassung: Die Misshandlung von Kindern weist sehr viele Facetten auf. Die Zahl der misshandelten Kinder ist schwierig abzuschätzen, sicher ist, dass es eine hohe Dunkelziffer gibt. Bei der Erkennung von Kindesmisshandlung ist jeder Mann und jede Frau gefordert. Beim Verdacht auf eine Misshandlung sollte jedoch nie im Alleingang vorgegangen werden, der Einbezug von Fachpersonen ist unerlässlich. Grundsätzlich könnte jede Verletzung Folge einer Misshandlung sein. Der Verdacht sollte aber v.a. dann geäußert werden, wenn die geschilderte Anamnese nicht zu den Verletzungsmustern passt oder die Verletzungen nach dem Entwicklungsstand des Kindes schlicht nicht möglich sind oder wenn die Verletzungen an ungewöhnlichen Körperstellen sind. Noch viel wichtiger als die Erkennung und Behandlung von misshandelten Kindern ist jedoch die Prävention. Deshalb ist es entscheidend, dass die psychosozialen Risikofaktoren bekannt sind, sodass man den betroffenen Eltern rechtzeitig Hilfe anbieten kan

The Role of the Annuity’s Value on the Decision (Not) to Annuitize: Evidence from a Large Policy Change

This paper presents new evidence on how the annuitization decision is affected by changes in the annuity’s value. We take advantage of an unprecendented change in policy, which in 2004 moderated the super-mandatory Swiss occupational pension scheme: The 20 percent reduction in the rate at which retirement capital is translated into a life-long annuity equates to a net present value loss of approximately 20’000 SFR (20’000 US$) for the average retiree. Using administrative data and correcting for anticipation effects, we show that due to the change in policy there was an approximately 8 percentage point change in the share of men choosing to annuitize their savings. We also show that the estimated responsiveness of the cash-out decision to variations in a utility based measure for the annuity value is comparable to results of previous studies, which employed completely different sources of variation in the annuity’s value.annuity puzzle, occupational pension, policy change

Trusting the Police: Comparisons across Eastern and Western Europe

The police can be seen as a governmental institution or as an organizational body, where especially the work - effectiveness, or fairness in encounters - is valued. Through the combination of these approaches and the inclusion of social trust and criminal victimization, Silvia Staubli offers an understanding beyond existing literature on institutional trust and procedural fairness. Moreover, due to analyses for Eastern and Western Europe, she addresses experts from sociology, political science, criminology, and social anthropology equally. Beyond, the study offers an insight to the public on how public opinions towards institutions are shaped

The Character of the Keys in the Music of the Classical and Romantic Period

To discuss the character of keys in tonal music is a task between speculation and science based on facts. The purpose of this essay is to identify empirical facts on which individual traits of a given key are based. At the same time, I was keen on leaving room for the imagination, which plays an essential role in this context. On the one hand, it was my aim to conduct research which yields concrete results; on the other, I wanted to maintain an open-minded approach so as not to lose or narrow down the great range of feelings associated with individual keys.I also discuss a number of varying and contradictory approaches to the subject. In addition, I have included some thoughts on the much-disputed interconnectedness of key and colour.I examined a limited number of examples - by Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and others - because I was primarily interested in pointing out relatable reasons for a given key’s perceived character and not necessarily in comparing a maximum number of compositions