November 2019

12Nov

Germany. Government agrees on basic pension

Berlin (dpa) - German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil on Monday praised a compromise deal struck by the country's ruling coalition on a new basic pension, saying that it is a good solution. Read also German coalition parties avert government crisis with pension deal "We have a basic pension that is worthy of its name," he told the broadcaster ARD. Heil said that he had been particularly focused on not deterring needy people and on avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy. Read also Switzerland....

November 12, 2019
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08Nov

Social Protection in Developing Countries: Reforming Systems

By Katja Bender, Markus Kaltenborn, Christian Pfleiderer, Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona Providing universal access to social protection and health systems for all members of society, including the poor and vulnerable, is increasingly considered crucial to international development debates. This is the first book to explore from an interdisciplinary and global perspective the reforms of social protection systems introduced in recent years by many governments of low and middle-income countries. Although a growing body of literature has been concerned with the...

November 8, 2019
Adequacy, Books, System Sustainability, ,
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07Nov

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan Sign Pension Agreement

The Minister of Labor and Social Policy Bisser Petkov and his Azerbaijani counterpart Sahil Babayev signed a Pension Agreement between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan, the Social Ministry press center announced. The signing of the document took place today in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Before the ceremony, Minister Petkov met with Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov. The pension agreement will regulate work insurance in both countries, as well as the procedure for granting and paying retirement and old-age pensions,...

November 7, 2019
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04Nov

Stewardship in the UK – The 2019 Draft Stewardship Code in Context

By Eva Micheler (London School of Economics - Law Department) The article interrogates the idea of creating a market for stewardship and identifies obstacles that stand in the way of such a market. In particular tax relief for pension investments deprives pension investors from an incentive to monitor investment and demand stewardship activity by their service providers. By granting tax relief the government has become a financial contributor to and a stakeholder in the financial services industry that services pensions....

November 4, 2019
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October 2019

30Oct

How Pinochet’s economic model led to the current crisis engulfing Chile

After 12 days of mass demonstrations, rioting and human rights violations, the government of President Sebastián Piñera must now find a way out of the crisis that has engulfed Chile. Analysts have correctly interpreted the wave of protests as a reflection of discontent with the material, political and social inequalities engendered by the economic model imposed by the country’s former dictator Augusto Pinochet. That model deregulated markets and privatised social security systems, and was widely emulated by other countries...

October 30, 2019
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18Oct

Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics

By Stephen Wendel A new wave of products is helping people change their behavior and daily routines, whether it's exercising more (Jawbone Up), taking control of their finances (HelloWallet), or organizing their email (Mailbox). This practical guide shows you how to design these types of products for users seeking to take action and achieve specific goals. Stephen Wendel, HelloWallet's head researcher, takes you step-by-step through the process of applying behavioral economics and psychology to the practical problems of product...

October 18, 2019
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18Oct

Effects of Taxes and Safety Net Pensions on Life-Cycle Labor Supply, Savings and Human Capital: The Case of Australia

By Michael P. Keane, Fedor Iskhakov In this paper we structurally estimate a life-cycle model of consumption/savings, labor supply and retirement, using data from the Australian HILDA panel. We use the model to evaluate effects of the Australian aged pension system and tax policy on labor supply, consumption and retirement decisions. Our model accounts for human capital accumulation via learning by doing, as well as wealth accumulation and decumulation over the life cycle, uninsurable wage risk, credit constraints, a...

October 18, 2019
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14Oct

‘Eden bonds’: how rewilding could save the climate and your pension

Just under a quarter of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions come from our use of the land for things such as farming and forestry. Policymakers have a historic opportunity to initiate massive change to land use at a time when a set of other circumstances may help with implementing it; a new public environmental awareness, changing technology and record low bond yields. And there is a way to direct finance into projects that protect, rather than degrade, nature, and...

October 14, 2019
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11Oct

The Customer Centricity Playbook: Implement a Winning Strategy Driven by Customer Lifetime Value

By Peter Fader, Sarah E. Toms How did global gaming company Electronic Arts go from being named “Worst Company in America” to clearing a billion dollars in profit? They discovered a simple truth—and acted on it: Not all customers are the same, regardless of how they appear on the surface. In The Customer Centricity Playbook, Wharton School professor Peter Fader and Wharton Interactive’s executive director Sarah Toms help you see your customers as individuals rather than a monolith,...

October 11, 2019
Books, Pension design,
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11Oct

UK. Pensions tax relief set to cost government almost £40bn

Pensions tax relief will cost the government almost £40bn this year, up more than £2bn on the previous year, illustrating the growing cost of subsidising retirement saving. According to new statistics from HMRC, tax relief on employee pension saving is set to rise to £21.2bn while the tax giveaway on employer contributions to occupational pension schemes hit more than £18bn. The increasing cost of providing pensions tax relief follows a surge in the number of employees paying into company...

October 11, 2019
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