IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prs/rfreco/rfeco_0769-0479_1999_num_14_1_1073.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quelle solidarité intergénérationnelle ?

Author

Listed:
  • André Masson

Abstract

[fre] Ecart grandissant entre les niveaux de vie des jeunes et des vieux ; envolée préoccupante des transferts publics à destination des plus âgés (santé, retraite) ; bouleversement des rela- tions et comportements familiaux entre générations (co-résidence prolongée avec les jeunes enfants adultes par exemple). Ces difficultés conduisent à s'interroger sur le bien fondé des solidarités générationnelles (publiques ou privées), censées réduire l'incertitude et mettre en œuvre des réciprocités indirectes, ascendante ou descendante, entre trois générations successives. La discussion permet d'opposer deux visions de l' Etat-providence. Pour les uns, ce rôle serait devenu néfaste : l'action publique serait créatrice d'incertitude et avantagerait indûment les plus vieux dans la lutte des générations. Pour d'autres au contraire, comme G. Becker, l'Etat-providence conduirait à une coopération efficace et équitable entre générations : en les déchargeant du souci du financement de leurs vieux jours, il aiderait les familles modestes ou moyennes à consacrer les investissements appropriés dans l'éducation de leurs enfants. Appliquée aux retraites, cette analyse montre que le débat technique entre répartition et capitalisation n'est souvent que le reflet d'un autre débat, plus politique, concernant l'âge de la retraite ou la durée d'activité. [eng] The widening gap between the well- being of old and young people ; the worrying increase in public transfers towards elderly people ; the change in intergenerational family relations and behaviours (such as the lengthened coresidence with young adult children). These difficulties moti- vate a reassessment of the functioning of (private or public) « solidarities » between generations, which should reduce uncertainty and enforce rules of « indirect » (ascending or descending) reciprocity between three succeeding generations. The discussion enlights two opposite views concerning the role of the welfare state. According to some (liberal) economists, this role has become harmful : public policy now creates uncertainty ; in the conflict between generations, moreover, the state takes sides with the old ones. For others, including Gary Becker, state intervention is part of an advantageous and profitable cooperation between generations, the public support of the elderly allowing poor or middle class families to achieve efficient levels of human capital investments in their children. As far as pensions are concerned, this analysis shows that the technical debate between pay- as-you-go and funded schemes usually conceals a more crucial and political issue, concerning the age of retirement.

Suggested Citation

  • André Masson, 1999. "Quelle solidarité intergénérationnelle ?," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 14(1), pages 27-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:prs:rfreco:rfeco_0769-0479_1999_num_14_1_1073
    DOI: 10.3406/rfeco.1999.1073
    Note: DOI:10.3406/rfeco.1999.1073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3406/rfeco.1999.1073
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.persee.fr/doc/rfeco_0769-0479_1999_num_14_1_1073
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3406/rfeco.1999.1073?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Becker, Gary S & Murphy, Kevin M, 1988. "The Family and the State," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Gordon, Roger H. & Varian, Hal R., 1988. "Intergenerational risk sharing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 185-202, November.
    4. Didier Blanchet & Bertrand Villeneuve, 1997. "Que reste-t-il du débat répartition-capitalisation ?," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 40(2), pages 157-174.
    5. Alan J. Auerbach & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1994. "Generational Accounting: A Meaningful Way to Evaluate Fiscal Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 73-94, Winter.
    6. Lindbeck, A., 1994. "Uncertainty under the Welfare State - Policy Induced Risk -," Papers 576, Stockholm - International Economic Studies.
    7. Atkinson, A.B., 1987. "Income maintenance and social insurance," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 13, pages 779-908, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:bla:scandj:v:103:y:2001:i:3:p:415-43 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3882 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. André Masson, 2002. "Méthodes et usages des comptes générationnels : un regard décalé," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 154(3), pages 1-24.
    4. Vincent Touzé, 2006. "Fluctuations et partage entre les générations," Post-Print hal-03462168, HAL.
    5. Luc Arrondel & François-Charles Wolff, 1998. "La nature des transferts inter vivos en France : investissements humains, aides financières et transmission du patrimoine," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 135(4), pages 1-27.
    6. Mohamed Jellal & François-Charles Wolff, 2005. "Dynamique des transferts intergénérationnels et effet de démonstration," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 77, pages 81-107.
    7. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3882 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. André Masson, 2002. "Méthodes et usages des comptes générationnels : un regard décalé," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 154(3), pages 1-24.
    2. Jellal, Mohamed, 2009. "Family Institution and Filial Attention Contract," MPRA Paper 17713, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. repec:bla:scandj:v:103:y:2001:i:3:p:415-43 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Hassler, J. & Lindbeck, A., 1997. "Intergenerational Risk Sharing, Stability and Optimality of Alternative Pension Systems," Papers 631, Stockholm - International Economic Studies.
    5. Dirk Niepelt, 2020. "Reserves for All? Central Bank Digital Currency, Deposits, and Their (Non)-Equivalence," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(3), pages 211-238, June.
    6. Schoonbroodt, Alice & Tertilt, Michèle, 2014. "Property rights and efficiency in OLG models with endogenous fertility," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 551-582.
    7. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 2004. "The pay-as-you-go pension system as fertility insurance and an enforcement device," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1335-1357, July.
    8. Robert Grafstein, 2009. "Antisocial Security: The Puzzle of Beggar‐Thy‐Children Policies," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 710-725, July.
    9. Metzger, Christoph, 2016. "The German statutory pension scheme: Balance sheet, cross-sectional internal rates of return and implicit tax rates," FZG Discussion Papers 63, University of Freiburg, Research Center for Generational Contracts (FZG).
    10. Lee, R., 2016. "Macroeconomics, Aging, and Growth," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 59-118, Elsevier.
    11. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/9644 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Nerlove, Marc & Razin, Assaf & Sadka, Efraim, 1988. "A bequest-constrained economy: Welfare analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 203-220, November.
    13. Jérôme Creel & Francesco Saraceno, 2008. "Wealth Effects and Public Debt in an Endogenous Growth Model. Banca d'Italia Public Finance Workshop 'Fiscal Sustainability : Analytical Developments and Emerging Policy Issues', Perugia, 3-5 April 20," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01053226, HAL.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h61kh4poj is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Katarina Nordblom, 2001. "Within-the-family education and its impact on equality," Public Economics 0105004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Xavier Timbeau, 2011. "Solidarité intergénérationnelle et dette publique," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 191-212.
    17. Robert P. Hagemann & Christoph John, 1997. "Fiscal Reform In Sweden: What Generational Accounting Tells Us," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(3), pages 1-12, July.
    18. Beetsma, R. & Romp, W., 2016. "Intergenerational Risk Sharing," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 311-380, Elsevier.
    19. Ayşe İmrohoroğlu & Selahattin İmrohoroğlu & Douglas H. Joines, 2003. "Time-Inconsistent Preferences and Social Security," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 745-784.
    20. Walter Enders & Harvey Lapan, 1993. "A model of first and second-best social security programs," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 65-90, December.
    21. Feldstein, Martin, 1996. "The Missing Piece in Policy Analysis: Social Security Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 1-14, May.
    22. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h61kh4poj is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Giancarlo Marini & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2003. "Intergenerational Transfers and Growth," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Luigi Paganetto & Edmund S. Phelps (ed.), Finance, Research, Education and Growth, chapter 3, pages 38-48, Palgrave Macmillan.
    24. Casey B. Mulligan & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1999. "Social Security in Theory and Practice (I): Facts and Political Theories," NBER Working Papers 7118, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:prs:rfreco:rfeco_0769-0479_1999_num_14_1_1073. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Equipe PERSEE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.persee.fr/collection/rfeco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.