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Among the concepts used to assess the sustainability of fiscal policy in a changing demographic environment, generational accounting has become the most prominent. This book gives a complete and up-to-date introduction to the theory and practice of the method. It reveals deficiencies of the original residual concept and discusses various measures of intergenerational redistribution based on the recent sustainability approach to generational accounting. An application using data on German public finances serves to provide an in-depth explanation and practical illustration of the technique. The study develops new procedures to evaluate the fiscal externalities of migration and the redistribution of net wealth among living generations resulting from Social Security reform. The book is an indispensable source of reference for analysts employing generational accounting and for those wishing to study intertemporal redistribution through fiscal policy

The paper studies the determinants of labor force participation by East German women after unification. To isolate the role of preferences on labor force participation from individual characteristics, we develop a panel data model that simultaneously explains participation, employment and wages. The model, estimated for East and West Germany on the basis of the German Socio-Economic Panel, indicates that distinct preferences could explain the regional difference in participation rates at unification. Afterward East German women became less willing to participate, but the negative labor supply trend was offset on the aggregate level by changes in characteristics and wages promoting participation.

Angesichts der stark steigenden Zuzüge hat in Deutschland wieder eine gesellschaftliche Debatte darüber begonnen, was die richtige Zuwanderungspolitik ist, welche Vor- und Nachteile für das Land mit Zuwanderung verbunden sind und ob Migranten die öffentlichen Haushalte belasten, weil eine Zuwanderung in die Sozialsysteme stattfindet. Vor diesem Hintergrund analysiert der Autor die langfristigen Erträge von Migration für verschiedene Szenarien künftiger Zuwanderung mit den Mitteln der Generationenbilanzierung. ; The paper employs generational accounting to assess the long-term fiscal impact of future immigration to Germany. Using micro data on age-specific government revenue and expenditure, it demonstrates that the intertemporal government budget, given current fiscal parameters and no migration, is heavily imbalanced due to demographic ageing. Immigration may reduce the burden of the necessary fiscal policy changes on the incumbent population, both via an added revenue effect and an added tax payer effect. However, fiscal relief requires that future migrants are on average at least medium-skilled and hence better qualified than the current population of foreign nationals in Germany. This calls for selective migration policies with a strong labour market focus.