March 2018

The troubled state of pension systems in Latin America

By Augusto de la Torre and Heinz P. Rudolph A quarter of a century since Chilean-style pension reforms swept Latin America, the state of the region’s pension systems is worrisome. Old and new problems are increasingly rearing their ugly heads, some setting off serious alarms, all posing thorny political and technical challenges. Pension issues have therefore once again taken center stage in the policy debate. This paper provides a bird’s eye view of the quilt-like landscape of contributory pensions systems...

February 2018

Building Evidence for Active Ageing Policies: Active Ageing Index and its Potential

By Asghar Zaidi,‎ Sarah Harper,‎ Kenneth Howse,‎ Giovanni Lamura,‎ Jolanta Perek-Bialas  This book provides multinational evidence on active and healthy ageing. It generates authoritative new knowledge for mutual learning and policymaking in addressing challenges linked with population ageing. The authors discuss how to achieve better active ageing outcomes through appropriate policies including addressing life course determinants of active and healthy ageing. The chapters are distinctive in their focus on quantitative analysis of active and healthy ageing based on a first-of-its-kind composite measure, the Active Ageing...

Poverty Among Older People and Pensions Policy in the EU (Public Policy and Social Welfare)

By Asghar Zaidi Based on research work financed by the European Commission under their programme of Community Action to Combat Social Exclusion, this book offers a comprehensive picture of the present state of later-life poverty across the 25 member states of the European Union. The authors analyze the poverty risks older people are currently facing in combination with a detailed study on the current European data-sets used to measure these risks. They provide a detailed description of recent pension reforms...

Exploring the Risks and Consequences of Elder Fraud Victimization: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

By Marguerite DeLiema (Stanford University - Stanford Center on Longevity), Martha Deevy (Stanford University - Stanford Center on Longevity), Annamaria Lusardi (George Washington University - Department of Accountancy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)) & Olivia S. Mitchell (University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)) This is the first study to use longitudinal data to explore both the antecedents and consequences of fraud victimization in the older population. Because older persons are close to...

The Impact of Life-Course Developments on Pensions in the Ndc Systems in Poland, Italy and Sweden and Point System in Germany

By Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak (Warsaw School of Economics), Marek Góra (Warsaw School of Economics (SGH); IZA Institute of Labor Economics), Irena Kotowska (Warsaw School of Economics), Iga Magda (Warsaw School of Economics), Anna Ruzik-Sierdzińska (Warsaw School of Economics) & Pawel Strzelecki (National Bank of Poland; Warsaw School of Economics) Old-age pensions in the NDC systems reflect the accumulated lifetime labour income. Interrupted careers and differences in the employment rates, particularly between men and women will have a significant impact on...

Improving the Targeting of Social Programs in Ghana

By Quentin Wodon This study provides a diagnostic of the benefit incidence and targeting performance of a large number of social programs in Ghana. Both broad-based programs (such as spending for education and health, and subsidies for food, oil-related products and electricity) as well as targetd programs (such as LEAP, the indigent exemption under the NHIS, school lunches and uniforms, or fertilizer subsidies) are considered. In addition, the study provides tools and recommendations for better targeting of those programs in...

Political Viability of Intergenerational Transfers. An Empirical Application

By Gianko Michailidis (University of Barcelona) & Concepcio Patxot (University of Barcelona - Department of Economic Theory) Public intergenerational transfers (IGTs) may arise because of the failure of private arrangements to provide optimal economic resources for the young and the old. We examine the political sustainability of the system of public IGTs by asking what the outcome would be if the decision per se to reallocate economic resources between generations was put to the vote. By exploiting the particular nature...

Pension Plans Central America Report

The Pension Plans Central America Report gives Market Consumption / Products / Services for 31 countries by each Product by 3 Time series: From 1997- 2016 and Forecasts 2017- 2024 & 2024-2028. Countries covered include: Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent/Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands....

January 2018

Confidence in Retirement – How well are Kenyans prepared for retirement?

By Strathmore University The purpose of this study is to assess and evaluate the views and attitudes of working age Kenyans who are members of a registered workplace pension schemes. The study reveals the extent in which different factors influence individual’s level of optimism or pessimism about retirement as well as Kenyans actions to prepare for retirement. (more…)

A European Pensions Union: Towards a Strengthening of the European Pension Systems

By Pascal Borsjé (Clifford Chance LLP) & Hans van Meerten (Utrecht University - Utrecht Centre for Shared Regulation and Enforcement in Europe – RENFORCE) This contribution will especially address the EC’s general policy in respect of the IORP II Proposal, also in connection with general more recent EU law developments, and its consequences for the pension systems of the EU Member States, with a focus on the occupational pension system of the Netherlands. (more…)