This book analyses the impact of European tax and benefit systems on incentives to create and take up jobs. European policymakers face tough choices as reforms to these systems are costly and recognising and understanding the complex trade-offs involved - a pre-condition to pushing the reform process forward - is the aim of this volume. The authors, experts in public and welfare economics, investigate the problems involved in re-designing tax and benefit systems in Europe, the cross-country spillovers of 'bad' domestic policies and the peer pressure from closer policy co-operation in EMU. They examine reforms in tax and welfare systems and suggest ways in which to improve their efficiency without undermining the equitable foundations of the European social model. While aiming at a high degree of generality, the analyses are rooted firmly in the experience of European countries and the conclusions are therefore all the more relevant and of interest to policymakers in Europe, as well as the rest of the world. The blend of theoretical and institutional analysis, policy suggestions and case studies of relevant European success stories will ensure this book appeals to policymakers and scholars of welfare, European and labour studies.

Pension Systems enters into the current lively debate on European pensions. The focus of the book is the analysis of public intervention in individuals' retirement choice, its rationale and the desirability of legislation introducing a sizeable and compulsory increase in retirement age, to face the prospects of swift population ageing. The book assesses the impact of different retirement rules on individual decisions, on the sustainability of social security systems and on labour market dynamics, and inquires whether mandatory retirement has not become an outdated feature of modern pension systems. The motivations behind public intervention in fixing compulsory retirement rules as well as the likely consequences of allowing the individual a higher responsibility in retirement choices are analysed. These issues are examined both theoretically and empirically and through a focus on country-specific patterns of retirement and on policy issues relevant at the European level. The impact of later retirement on the labour market is also investigated, considering the role of retirement rules in increasing employment. This comprehensive and topical book will appeal to academics and scholars of public finance as well as pensions experts and organisations.