TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Fölster, Stefan
AU  - Gidehag, Robert
AU  - Orszag, Mike
AU  - Snower, Dennis J.
        TI  - Assessing Welfare Accounts
        PY  - 2002/Jul/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 533
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp533
        AB  - The paper examines the possible effects of introducing a large-scale welfare reform in
Sweden, namely, the introduction of comprehensive welfare accounts. Under this policy,
individuals make mandatory contributions to accounts, which they can top up with voluntary
contributions. In return, individuals’ welfare benefits are paid from their accounts. The paper
uses a large panel of individual income data to examine how the adoption of universal
welfare accounts may affect economic activity. We find that this policy could be designed so
as to reduce social insurance expenditure considerably, improve the incentives to work and
save, all with relatively small redistributive impact.
        KW  - welfare state benefits
KW  - welfare reform
KW  - welfare accounts
KW  - social insurance
KW  - taxes
        ER  -