May 2018

21May

The Aging Population and the Competitiveness of Cities: Benefits to the Urban Economy

By Peter Karl Kresl,‎ Daniele Ietri While much of the current literature on the economic consequences of an aging population focuses on the negative aspects, this enlightening book argues that seniors can bring significant benefits – such as vitality and competitiveness – to an urban economy.The authors illustrate the ways an aging population can have a positive impact on urban centers, including the move by large numbers of seniors from the suburbs to the city, where their disproportionate consumption of...

May 21, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market
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21May

Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Working Longer

By Courtney Coile (Wellesley College; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)), Kevin S. Milligan (University of British Columbia (UBC) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)) & David A. Wise (National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)) This is the introduction and summary to the eighth phase of an ongoing project on Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World. This project, which compares the experiences of a dozen developed countries,...

May 21, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, Regulation, Slider-Left, , ,
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14May

Tax Aspect of the Mobility of Individuals and Companies within the EU

By Carlo Garbarino (Bocconi University - Department of Law) Migration has become an increasingly important phenomenon for societies, especially given its highly controversial political dimension. The complexity of the migrant integration process and its many varieties present challenges to policymakers who need high-quality information on which to base decisions. Nowhere is this necessity more pressing than in the development of relevant tax rules that meet the basic requirements of efficiency and equity. Moreover, the ascent of the so-called emerging economies...

May 14, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, ,
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07May

Poverty in Retirement: The Long-Term Impact of Rising Economic Inequality

By David W. Rasmussen (Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy) Income inequality is exacerbated by labor market trends that increase the demand for high skill occupations and those in low skill service occupations. This hollowing out of the middle of the income distribution means that an increasing portion of households will be less prepared for retirement as they approach age 65: they will have saved less, have diminished access to define benefit pension plans, and face smaller social security...

May 7, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market,
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April 2018

23Apr

Do People Really Want Freedom of Choice? Assessing Preferences of Pension Fund Participants

Reforms in private pension plans across the world are opening up more options for pension participants to make choices to suit their preferences. Freedom of choice is however not a unidimensional concept as it is commonly perceived by policy makers. People can value both the freedom to choose as well as the freedom not to choose This observation can have far-reaching implications for pension policy design. By using a unique panel survey among Dutch employees we are able to...

April 23, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, Savings
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23Apr

Implications of Behavioural Economics for Mandatory Individual Account Pension Systems

By Waldo Tapia & Juan Yermo In individual account pension systems, members bear the risks and consequences of their investment decisions. If participants behave as predicted by economic theory, such responsibility would be welfare enhancing as members would invest and hold a portfolio of financial assets with a risk-return combination consistent with their investment horizon, degree of risk aversion and the portfolio of other assets they hold, including their human capital and, where relevant, their home. Behavioural economists and empirical...

April 23, 2018
Investing, Labor Market, Savings,
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23Apr

Financializing Poverty: Labor and Risk in Indian Microfinance

By Sohini Kar Microfinance is the business of giving small, collateral-free loans to poor borrowers that are paid back in frequent intervals with interest. While these for-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) promise social and economic empowerment, they have mainly succeeded at enfolding the poor—especially women—into the vast circuits of global finance. Financializing Poverty ethnographically examines how the emergence of MFIs has allowed financial institutions in the city of Kolkata, India, to capitalize on the poverty of its residents. This book reveals how...

April 23, 2018
Books, Labor Market
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23Apr

Healthy Ageing: A Capability Approach to Inclusive Policy and Practice

By Christine Stephens &‎ Mary Breheny What does it mean to age well? This important new book redefines what ‘successful’ aging means, challenging the idea that physical health is the only criteria to gauge the aging process, and that an aging population is necessarily a burden upon society. Using Sen’s Capabilities Approach as a theoretical starting point Healthy Ageing: A Capability Approach to Inclusive Policy and Practice outlines a nuanced perspective that transcends the purely biomedical view, recognising ideas of resilience,...

April 23, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market,
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23Apr

Organizing Old Age Pensions for India’s Informal Workers: A Case Study of a Sector-Driven Approach

By M.R. Narayana (University of Mysore) About 88 percent of India’s total labor force is composed of informal (officially labeled “unorganized”) workers. As many as 388 million such workers lack old age income security by way of a pension system. The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is the latest contributory, national-level old age pension scheme for unorganized workers, with an entry age of 18–40 years. In other words, all current unorganized workers above the age of 40 are excluded. How could...

April 23, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, , ,
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