June 2023
08Jun

Pension reform could impact employment and wages warns Bank of Spain

The Bank of Spain has warned the government that the new pension regulation could have a negative impact on employment, wages and the competitiveness of companies. This, it said, is due to the triple increase in contributions that the regulation imposes and that will particularly affect workers with higher salaries, who will be penalised in three ways, while the rest of the workers will only be affected by the increase in contributions that the new intergenerational equity mechanism entails. According...

June 8, 2023
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06Jun

French unions make ultimate push to derail pension reform

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets across France on Tuesday for what will be the fourteenth day of demonstrations since January to oppose French President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform. Authorities expect up to 600,000 people at the demonstrations nationwide, less than half the peak on 7 March, when 1.28 million were counted by police. In contrast to the earlier phase of the movement, only limited disruption is expected on public transport though some flight cancellations...

June 6, 2023
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May 2023
31May

Netherlands set to reform $1.6 trillion private pension sector

The Netherlands is set for a major overhaul of its 1.45 trillion euro ($1.6 trillion) private pension industry, Europe's largest, that will see funds ditch the promise of guaranteed benefits as they try to keep a lid on costs. Following years of debate, the Dutch Senate on Tuesday gave its final approval for the shift to a "defined contribution" system, which proponents say will yield better results - though opponents have warned of the extra risks it introduces. Traditionally, Dutch workers...

May 31, 2023
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30May

Irak. IMF, National Board of Pensions discuss reform plans

The National Board of Pensions and the State Pension Fund discussed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Amman, the administrative and financial reform plans of the National Board of Pensions, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA). A statement issued by the National Board of Pensions mentioned that the IMF called for holding a meeting to discuss the progress made in retirement in Iraq and to review the plans of the National Board of Pensions in terms of administrative...

May 30, 2023
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26May

A zoom into Asia’s pension reform journey: different perspectives of a multi-pillar approach

By Calvin Chiu & Elvin Tharm Pension reform in Asia is progressing as the region faces numerous challenges: ageing populations, rising life expectancy and the erosion of traditional family and community support for the elderly. While the traditional state-provided pension may provide one potential source of retirement income, Manulife Investment Management believes that a comprehensive multi-pillar approach, such as that outlined by the World Bank, should be the best way forward. In this initial paper of a new series on...

May 26, 2023
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26May

Bringing Back the State: Understanding Varieties of Pension Re-reforms in Latin America

By Leandro N.Carrera & Marina Angelaki Pension policy is a highly political issue across Latin America. Since the mid-2000s, several countries have re-reformed their pension systems with a general trend toward more state involvement, yet with significant variation. This article contends that policy legacies and the institutional political setting are key to understanding such variation. Analyzing the cases of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, this article shows that where a weak legacy, characterized by low coverage and savings rates, a weakly...

May 26, 2023
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26May

Pension Reform: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges

By Seamus Duffy & Oliver Giesecke Underfunded pension are the largest liability for state and local governments across the United States. As a result of increasing recognition of the associated risks, recent statutory funding mandates led to a sharp increases in required contributions, threatening city services and employee bases. As funding pressure mounts, pension reforms offer a viable tool for prudent economic policy. We propose five general principles that guide pension reform considerations and discuss how these principle stand in...

May 26, 2023
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26May

‘Earned, Not Given’? The Effect of Lowering the Full Retirement Age on Retirement Decisions

By Mathias Dolls & Carla Krolage This paper analyzes behavioral responses to a 2014 reform in the German public pension system that lowered the full retirement age (FRA) of individuals with a long contribution history by up to two years and framed the new FRA as reference age for retirement. Using administrative data from public pension insurance accounts, we first document a substantial bunching response at the FRA exceeding the control group’s bunching by 83%. Second, we show in a...

May 26, 2023
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26May

Save to Advance: Analysis and Recommendations on the Pension Reform in Colombia

By Manuela Restrepo, Camilo José Ríos, Andrés Mauricio Velasco & Andrés Zambrano  In March of 2023, the Government filed a Bill that seeks to modify the Colombian pension system. The Bill contemplates a four-pillar scheme: a social transfer pillar named Solidario, a semi- contributory pillar, a contributory pillar, and a voluntary savings pillar. This paper presents a summary of the Bill filled in Congress, followed by an analysis of its implications for fiscal sustainability and macroeconomic stability. As a result, we recommend that the...

May 26, 2023
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22May

France pension protest held on outskirts of Cannes Film Festival

Protests over pension reforms have roiled France in recent months, but demonstrations have been kept largely at bay at one of the country’s glitziest events, the Cannes Film Festival. On Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered in Cannes to oppose the raising of the reforms pushed through parliament by President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Those protests, however, were far removed from the central hub of the festival, the Palais des Festivals, or Cannes’ seaside boulevard, the Croisette. Instead, they gathered on the...

May 22, 2023
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