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I exploit a unique educational policy -implemented in most German states between 2001 and 2007 -that reduced high school duration by one year while keeping its curriculum unaltered to investigate how the resulting increase in learning intensity affected student achievement. Using 2000-2009 PISA data and a difference-in-differences approach, I find robust evidence that the reform significantly improved the reading, mathematics, and science literacy skills acquired by academic-track high school students upon treatment. A more direct estimate of the effects of the increased learning intensity -as measured by the cumulative weekly number of instructional hours delivered in high school gradescorroborates the latter finding. Furthermore, there is some evidence that the effects of the reform differ by gender and grade retention. Finally, I find no evidence of a significant average effect of the reform on high school grade retention, although I do find that the latter increased significantly for boys and for students with a migration background.

European Union (EU) legislation on portability of supplementary pension rights accrued by private-sector migrant workers is at an early stage. The recent directive on this topic, aiming to preserve accrued pension rights at least at the level guaranteed in the case of within-borders mobility, emphasizes the role of country-specific legislation on pension portability issues. This paper analyses EU as well as national pension portability regulation for a representative sample of EU countries, in the light of recentempirical evidence outlining the role of occupational pensions in individual job mobility choices in these countries.