title: Transfers to the old, government debt and demographic change.
abstract: "In this paper we take the view that policy makers...take the relationship between (explicit) intergenerational transfer systems (including public pension schemes) and government deficits into account.  It is assumed that policy makers are behaving altruistically towards past and future generations.  Given the behavioral model, an analysis is made of the effects of demographic changes (such as the 'baby-boom' of the 1940s and 1950s and the decline of birth rates in the 1970s) on the decisions to be taken with respect to the tax rate of the public pension system and the size of government debt. From the analysis it appears that, with the assumption of altruistic decision-makers, periods of increasing or decreasing debt can occur alternately in periods of demographic change."  The geographical focus is on developed countries.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Verbon
mesh_terms: D001519:Behavior; D001723:Birth Rate; D003657:Decision Making; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D004467:Economics; D005298:Fertility; D005376:Financial Management; D018803:Models, Economic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011153:Population; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011158:Population Growth; D012106:Research; D013660:Taxes
keywords: Baby Boom; Behavior; Birth Rate; Decision Making; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Economic Factors; Economic Model; Fertility Measurements; Fertility--changes; Financial Activities; Intergenerational Transfers; Macroeconomic Factors; Microeconomic Factors; Models, Theoretical; Population; Population Dynamics; Research Methodology; Taxation