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When and How to Subsidize Tax-Favored Retirement Accounts?

Author

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  • Andras Simonovits

    (Institute of Economics - Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Economics - CEU, Mathematical Institute - Budapest University of Technology)

Abstract

When and how to subsidize tax-favored pension accounts? To defend myopic workers against themselves, the government introduces a mandatory system but to help savers, it adds taxfavored retirement accounts. If the mandatory system is progressive, then a proportional voluntary system can beneficially dampen the redistribution. If the mandatory system is proportional, then a progressive voluntary system may raise the old-age consumption of the lower-paid. But if both the mandatory and the voluntary systems are proportional and the ceiling is high (as is the case in Hungary), then the latter does not diminish the tension of the mandatory system.

Suggested Citation

  • Andras Simonovits, 2009. "When and How to Subsidize Tax-Favored Retirement Accounts?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0902, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
  • Handle: RePEc:has:discpr:0902
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Andras Simonovits, 2009. "Hungarian Pension System and its Reform," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0908, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    2. Andras Simonovits, 2013. "A family of simple paternalistic transfer models," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1324, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mandatory pensions; tax-favored retirement accounts; voluntary contributions; subsidies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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