June 2021
04Jun

Strategy for the Mexican Pension System

By Gabriel Martinez The concepts of benefit adequacy and sustainability are used to lead the discussion to-wards holistic pension reform. The required strategic elements are presented, the reforms underpinning the existing pension system are reviewed, and the evolution of the main variables in a set of reference countries is detailed. The review to other countries serves to identify key points of discussion, lessons and innovative elements. Essential reform proposals are presented. Source: SSRN 252 views

June 4, 2021
Articles, Pension design, System Sustainability, , ,
Read more...

May 2021
28May

Trends in Labor Supply of Older Men and the Role of Social Security

By Zhixiu Yu The labor supply of older men increased from the 1930s to the 1950s cohort. I estimate a structural model that fits the participation and hours worked by the 1930s cohort well. The observed policy changes in normal retirement age, the earnings test, and delayed retirement credits explain 73.4% and 88.7% of the observed rises in labor force participation and hours worked by the 1950s cohort. Additional policy experiments suggest that postponing retirement age have little effect on...

May 28, 2021
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, ,
Read more...
28May

Differences and Similarities in Patterns of Society Ageing in the European Union

By Denisa Kočanová, Viliam Kováč, Jan Buleca Population ageing is a demographic problem, which emphasises the need to be interested in the lives of the most vulnerable group–the elderly. The paper investigates the ageing process and similarity of selected countries in the European Union. The EU Member States were assessed and assigned to appropriate clusters according to several indicators related to the areas that affect the lives of the elderlies, namely health status, labour market conditions, and financial security. We...

May 28, 2021
Aging, Articles, , ,
Read more...
28May

Population and Labor Dynamics in Large Informal Markets: Implications for Pension Systems with Evidence from Ecuador

By Margarita Velín-Fárez This paper reviews Ecuador’s population structure and labor market dynamics with a focus on the causes of inequality, particularly among older adults receiving contributory pensions. This serves as a basis for characterizing the main restrictions that the Ecuadorian pension system must address. This analysis is valuable for three key reasons. First, the population structure of many less developed countries is converging toward that of developed countries, with older age groups increasing in proportion. Second, Ecuador is among...

May 28, 2021
Articles, Labor Market, , ,
Read more...
26May

How Regulators Use Sex-Disaggregated Data and RegTech to Enhance Financial Inclusion

By Toronto Centre Financial inclusion of women brings disproportionate benefits to their families and to economic development, yet in many countries an access-to-finance gender gap remains. Sex-disaggregated data (SDD) is key to monitoring and addressing this problem. This study examines the role that financial services regulators can play in efforts to address financial inclusion of women: how they are using, or could use, SDD to enhance women’s access to and use of financial products and services of the right quality that...

May 26, 2021
Articles, Books, Innovation, Regulation, Reports, , , , ,
Read more...
25May

Pension-Fund Investment in Forestry

By Clark S. Binkley, Fiona Stewart and Samantha Power A forestry investment can include land suitable for growing trees, the trees themselves, or both. The trees can be part of a natural forest or one that has been established artificially by seeding or planting. Natural forest management typically has lower operating costs than plantation forests, but also a lower growth rate. Plantation forests are typically, but not always monocultures. Forestry has long provided opportunities for institutional investors – but the scope...

May 25, 2021
Articles, Books, Investment, Reports, ,
Read more...
20May

Scaling Up Sustainable Investment through Blockchain-Based Project Bonds

By Yushi Chen, Ulrich Volz This paper explores options for mobilizing domestic savings through fintech solutions to scale up sustainable investment. Most developing and emerging economies face an urgent need to scale up sustainable finance for low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure investment, yet underdeveloped capital markets tend to inhibit domestic resource mobilization for infrastructure investment. At the same time, domestic savers in many developing and emerging economies face a scarcity of “safe” assets in the local currency, resulting in the exporting...

May 20, 2021
Articles, Investing, Savings, , , ,
Read more...
20May

How Competitive Are Income Annuity Providers Over Time?

By David Blanchett, Michael S. Finke, Branislav Nikolic The 2019 SECURE Act provides safe harbor protections to employers who evaluate the costs of providing guaranteed income including gathering information on competing providers. Annuities can be more difficult to evaluate than mutual funds because annuity expenses can be opaque, financial strength matters, and insurer competitiveness can change over time. We find significant variation in the payout rates across providers over time. While the payout rankings of annuity companies (e.g., best to...

May 20, 2021
Articles, Pension design, , ,
Read more...
20May

Social Security, Taxation Law, and Redistribution: Directions for Reform

By Alison McClelland, Richard Krever While it is now generally accepted that some redistribution of economic power is a legitimate goal of government, there is no consensus as to the type of redistribution that should be pursued. In the absence of a clear redistributive goal, it is impossible to evaluate critically current law, or make recommendations for change. In the first part of this article, we examine alternative models of redistribution and advocate a preferred model, namely, redistribution to promote...

May 20, 2021
Articles, Regulation, System Sustainability,
Read more...
14May

Can green fintechs solve the polluting pension problem?

Fintechs have seen green, launching apps that help us track the carbon emissions of our shopping habits, play the stock market in a planet-friendly way and even fight plastic pollution with our debit cards. These offerings are nudging consumers towards better behaviours, but there is one far bigger and far less sexy financial problem this crop of startups now wants to tackle. Pensions. A new survey from YouGov and Money Matter found that 44% of people would switch over to a...

May 14, 2021
Articles, News, Slider, Slider, System Sustainability, , ,
Read more...