February 2017

04Feb

An Evaluation of the Life Cycle Effects of Minimum Pensions on Retirement Behavior

By Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Alfonso R. Sánchez Martín In this paper we explore the effects of the minimum pension program on welfare and retirement in Spain. This is done with a stylized life cycle model which provides a convenient analytical characterization of optimal behavior. We use data from the Spanish Social Security to estimate the behavioral parameters of the model and then simulate the changes induced by the minimum pension in aggregate retirement patterns. The impact is substantial: there is...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Labor Market,
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04Feb

Private pension funds in Poland

By Lech Keller-Krawczyk This article takes a highly critical look at the pension system in Poland, which had been reformed after 1989 on the basis of the World Bank's 'three pillars' model of a combined state and private, mandatory and voluntary pensions system, despite evidence that the model is flawed and unobjective, being hinged on the inducements of cheaper credits for those countries adopting it. The author relates both the old and new pension systems in Poland, and describes the...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Corporate Governance, Investing, Labor Market,
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04Feb

Retirement delay unified or differentiated: based on the interaction between pension deficit and labor market

By Zou Tieding & Ye Hang The pension deficit has been rapidly enlarging for more than a decade. If the retirement age is set at a low level, it might trigger a pensions crisis. Since the average life span of the Chinese has extended from 71 to 76 years old in last ten years, the feasibility of rising the retirement age has also been promoted. Methods: This paper aims to construct a mathematical model for choosing a proper policy about...

February 4, 2017
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, System Sustainability, ,
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04Feb

How does pension eligibility affect labor supply in couples?

By Rafael Lalive & Parrotta Pierpaolo Many OECD countries are reforming their pension systems. We investigate how pension eligibility affects labor supply in couples. Inspired by a theoretical framework, we measure how the sharp change in the pension eligibility of both partners affects labor force participation. We find that both partners leave the labor force as they become eligible for a pension. The effect of their own pension eligibility is 12 percentage points for women and 28 percentage points for...

February 4, 2017
Adequacy, Aging, Books, Labor Market
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04Feb

Redesigning pension systems: the institutional structure of pension systems should follow population developments

By Marek Gora For decades, pension systems were based on the rising revenue generated by an expanding population (demographic dividend). As changes in fertility and longevity created new population structures, however, the dividend disappeared, but pension systems failed to adapt. They are kept solvent by increasing redistributions from the shrinking working-age population to retirees. A simple and transparent structure and individualization of pension system participation are the key preconditions for an intergenerationally just old-age security system. Full Content: EconBiz

February 4, 2017
Articles, Books, Labor Market, Pension design, Regulation
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04Feb

Do Non-Monetary Prices Target the Poor? Evidence from a Field Experiment in India

By Bridget Hoffmann This paper uses willingness to pay (WTP) data from a field experiment in Hyderabad, India in 2013 to determine whether non-monetary prices better target health products to the poor than monetary prices. Monetary WTP is increasing in income and non-monetary WTP is weakly decreasing in income. Household fixed effects in a pooled sample of monetary WTP and non-monetary WTP are used to compare the correlation of income and WTP across price types. It is found that non-monetary...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Labor Market, Pension design
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04Feb

Do Pension Plans with Participant Investment Choice Teach Households to Hold More Equity?

By Scott Weisbenner Some retirement plans allow the participant to choose how funds are invested. Having to direct investments may provide the participant with financial education. This paper finds that households covered by pension plans in which the employee chooses investments are significantly more apt to hold stock outside of their retirement plan than are households with pension plans offering no such choice. The effect of investment choice upon non-pension asset allocation cannot be explained by portfolio rebalancing or differences...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Investing, Labor Market, Savings,
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04Feb

Workers’ Knowledge of their Pension Coverage: A Reevaluation

By Martha Starr-McCluer & Annika Sundén Because employer-provided pensions represent an important source of income during retirement, accurate information on pension coverage would seem to be crucial for making sound decisions on retirement timing, saving and portfolio allocation. However, previous research suggests that workers’ knowledge of their pension provisions is often incomplete or incorrect. This paper re-examines workers’ knowledge of their pension coverage, using matched employer-employee data from the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances. We find that, while...

February 4, 2017
Aging, Articles, Labor Market,
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04Feb

Workers' Knowledge of their Pension Coverage: A Reevaluation

By Martha Starr-McCluer & Annika Sundén Because employer-provided pensions represent an important source of income during retirement, accurate information on pension coverage would seem to be crucial for making sound decisions on retirement timing, saving and portfolio allocation. However, previous research suggests that workers’ knowledge of their pension provisions is often incomplete or incorrect. This paper re-examines workers’ knowledge of their pension coverage, using matched employer-employee data from the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances. We find that, while...

February 4, 2017
Aging, Articles, Labor Market,
Read more...