March 2018

19Mar

The High Cost of Good Intentions: A History of U.S. Federal Entitlement Programs

By John F. Cogan Federal entitlement programs are strewn throughout the pages of U.S. history, springing from the noble purpose of assisting people who are destitute through no fault of their own. Yet as federal entitlement programs have grown, so too have their inefficiency and their cost. Neither tax revenues nor revenues generated by the national economy have been able to keep pace with their rising growth, bringing the national debt to a record peacetime level. The High Cost of...

March 19, 2018
Books, Pension design, System Sustainability, , ,
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19Mar

Earnings Test, Non-actuarial Adjustments and Flexible Retirement

By Axel H. Börsch-Supan, Klaus Härtl, Duarte N. Leite In response to the challenges of increasing longevity, an obvious policy response is to gradually increase the statutory eligibility age for public pension benefits and to shut down pathways to early retirement such as special rules for women. This is, however, very unpopular. As an alternative, many countries have introduced “flexibility reforms” which allow combining part-time work and partial retirement. A key measure of these reforms is the abolishment of earnings...

March 19, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, System Sustainability,
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14Mar

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...

March 14, 2018
Articles, Regulation, Slider-Left, System Sustainability, ,
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February 2018

28Feb

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...

February 28, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market, ,
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26Feb

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...

February 26, 2018
Books, Pension design, ,
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26Feb

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...

February 26, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Slider-Left,
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26Feb

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...

February 26, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, ,
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19Feb

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...

February 19, 2018
Books, System Sustainability, , ,
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19Feb

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...

February 19, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, , ,
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12Feb

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....

February 12, 2018
Books,
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