Fiscal Sustainability and Demographic Change: A Micro Approach for 27 EU Countries

Mathias Dolls, Karina Doorley, Alari Paulus, Hilmar Schneider (), Sebastian Siegloch and Eric Sommer
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Hilmar Schneider: University of Luxembourg

No 9618, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The effect of demographic change on the labor force and on fiscal revenues is topical in light of potential pension shortfalls. This paper evaluates the effect of demographic changes between 2010 and 2030 on labor force participation and government budgets in the EU-27. Our analysis involves the incorporation of population projections, and an explicit modeling of the supply and demand side of the labor market. Our approach overcomes a key shortcoming of most existing studies that focus only on labor supply when assessing the effects of policy reforms. Ignoring wage reactions greatly understates the increase in fiscal revenues, suggesting that fiscal strain from demographic change might be less severe than currently perceived. Finally, as a policy response to demographic change and worsening fiscal budgets, we simulate the increase in the statutory retirement age. Our policy simulations confirm that raising the statutory retirement age can balance fiscal budgets in the long run.

Keywords: demographic change; fiscal effects; labor supply; labor demand; pension systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H68 J11 J21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-cmp, nep-eur, nep-lma and nep-pbe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: International Tax and Public Finance , 2017, 24 (4), 575-615

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Related works:
Journal Article: Fiscal sustainability and demographic change: a micro-approach for 27 EU countries (2017)
Working Paper: Fiscal sustainability and demographic change: a micro approach for 27 EU countries (2016)
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