Policy and Implementation Issues in Reforming Pension Systems

Policy and Implementation Issues in Reforming Pension Systems
Author: E. Philip Davis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 28
Release: 1998
Genre: Capital market
ISBN:

In the light of the existing financing problems of pay-as-you-go social security pension systems and the greater difficulties they will face in future as the demographic situation deteriorates, the issue of pension reform is becoming a matter of growing importance in OECD countries, developing countries and countries in transition. This paper seeks to facilitate discussion of the underlying economic issues by offering a schematic presentation of the various benefits and costs arising from the various alternatives available in respect of reform, with the major emphasis being on a shift towards funding.

Pension Reform and the Development of Pension Systems

Pension Reform and the Development of Pension Systems
Author: Emily S. Andrews
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2006
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821365525

"Formal pension systems are an important means of reducing poverty among the aged. In recent years, however, pension reform has become a pressing matter, as demographic aging, poor administration, early retirement, and unaffordable benefits have strained pension balances and overall public finances. Pension systems have become a source of macroeconomic instability, a constraint to economic growth, and an ineffective and/or inequitable provider of retirement income."

Pension Reform

Pension Reform
Author: Nicholas Barr
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2009-11-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0195387724

This book is an abridgement of Barr and Diamond's Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices (OUP, 2008). It begins with the introduction to the earlier book, includes the concluding chapters to the sections on principles and on policy choices and the concluding policy chapter to the book. It summarizes the Chile and China chapters into a section of five pages. It presents material from some of the boxes of the longer book. While the longer book remains as a definitive and detailed analysis of pension reform, this new, shorter book conveys the message and conclusions to policy makers, journalists writing for the general public, and students being introduced to social security and other pension policy.The topic being condensed and summarized here is described at length in the earlier book. It stems from rapidly changing economic conditions and dramatic increases in life expectancy. Newspaper headlines across the globe anticipate again and again a massive rupture of social security and retirement systems. With public fears on the rise, officials in many countries under pressure to solve problems quickly are turning their backs on traditional pay-as-you-go systems in favor of privately financed retirement plans. Barr and Diamond demonstrate that in the age of globalization these problems are no longer simply domestic problems. Because trade borders are becoming increasingly open and digital transactions are hastily erasing national economic boundaries, countries are no longer able to act independently in setting pension policies. These problems are particularly exacerbated in China, a state where massive restructuring of state-owned enterprises and comparatively recent dynamic entry into global markets have already taxed a system whose enormous burden is to support the retirement of the world's largest national population. The authors address these issues comprehensively in a thorough survey of pension economic principles and application to China.

Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes

Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes
Author: Robert Holzmann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 489
Release: 2019-10-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464814546

The individual account-based but unfunded approach to mandated public pension systems is a reform benchmark for all pension schemes, promising fair and financially sustainable benefits. Nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) pension schemes originated in Italy and Sweden in the 1990s, were then adopted by Latvia, Norway, and Poland, envisaged but not implemented in various other countries, such as Egypt and Russia, and remain under discussion in many nations around the world, such as China and France. In its complete form, the approach also comprises budget-financed basic income provisions and mandated or voluntary funded provisions. Volume 1 of this book offers an assessment of countries that were early adopters before addressing key aspects of policy implementation and design review, including how best to combine basic income provisions with an NDC scheme, how to deal with heterogeneity in longevity, and how to adjust NDC scheme design and labor market policies to deliver on reform expectations. Volume 2 addresses a second set of issues, including the gender pension gap and what family policies can do about it within the NDC framework, labor market issues and administrative challenges of NDC schemes and how countries are coping, the role of communication in these pension schemes, the complexity of cross-border pension taxation, and much more. Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes is the third in a series of books analyzing the progress, challenges, and adjustment options of this reform revolution for mandated public pension systems. 'Pension reform is a major issue in many countries. The development of the nonfinancial defined contribution pension plan in the 90's was a major advance in pension design. By reporting actual country experiences and exploring properties of plan designs, this latest collection of essays is a valuable contribution, well worth reading.' Peter Diamond Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2010 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 'A highly stimulating publication for policy makers and researchers alike. It pushes the analytical frontier for policy challenges that all public pension schemes are confronted with but that the nonfinancial defined contribution approach promises to handle best.' Noriyuki Takayama President, Research Institute for Policies on Pension and Aging, Tokyo, and professor emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo 'In a changing world where pensions are more than ever linked to labor markets, communication tools, and flexibility considerations, this anthology provides a unique up-to-date analysis of nonfinancial defined contribution pension schemes. By mixing international experiences and theoretical studies, it demonstrates the high adaptability of such pension schemes to changing social challenges.' Pierre Devolder Professor of Finance and Actuarial Sciences, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices

Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices
Author: Nicholas Barr
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 763
Release: 2008-09-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199885990

Mandatory pensions are a worldwide phenomenon. However, with fixed contribution rates, monthly benefits, and retirement ages, pension systems are not consistent with three long-run trends: declining mortality, declining fertility, and earlier retirement. Many systems need reform. This book gives an extensive nontechnical explanation of the economics of pension design. The theoretical arguments have three elements: * Pension systems have multiple objectives--consumption smoothing, insurance, poverty relief, and redistribution. Good policy needs to bear them all in mind. * Good analysis should be framed in a second-best context-- simple economic models are a bad guide to policy design in a world with imperfect information and decision-making, incomplete markets and taxation. * Any choice of pension system has risk-sharing and distributional consequences, which the book recognizes explicitly. Barr and Diamond's analysis includes labor markets, capital markets, risk sharing, and gender and family, with comparison of PAYG and funded systems, recognizing that the suitable level of funding differs by country. Alongside the economic principles of good design, policy must also take account of a country's capacity to implement the system. Thus the theoretical analysis is complemented by discussion of implementation, and of experiences, both good and bad, in many countries, with particular attention to Chile and China.

Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes

Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes
Author: Robert Holzmann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2019-10-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464814562

The individual account-based but unfunded approach to mandated public pension systems is a reform benchmark for all pension schemes, promising fair and financially sustainable benefits. Nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) pension schemes originated in Italy and Sweden in the 1990s, were then adopted by Latvia, Norway, and Poland, envisaged but not implemented in various other countries, such as Egypt and Russia, and remain under discussion in many nations around the world, such as China and France. In its complete form, the approach also comprises budget-financed basic income provisions and mandated or voluntary funded provisions. Volume 1 of this book offers an assessment of countries that were early adopters before addressing key aspects of policy implementation and design review, including how best to combine basic income provisions with an NDC scheme, how to deal with heterogeneity in longevity, and how to adjust NDC scheme design and labor market policies to deliver on reform expectations. Volume 2 addresses a second set of issues, including the gender pension gap and what family policies can do about it within the NDC framework, labor market issues and administrative challenges of NDC schemes and how countries are coping, the role of communication in these pension schemes, the complexity of cross-border pension taxation, and much more. Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes is the third in a series of books analyzing the progress, challenges, and adjustment options of this reform revolution for mandated public pension systems. 'Pension reform is a major issue in many countries. The development of the nonfinancial defined contribution pension plan in the 90's was a major advance in pension design. By reporting actual country experiences and exploring properties of plan designs, this latest collection of essays is a valuable contribution, well worth reading.' Peter Diamond Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2010 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 'A highly stimulating publication for policy makers and researchers alike. It pushes the analytical frontier for policy challenges that all public pension schemes are confronted with but that the nonfinancial defined contribution approach promises to handle best.' Noriyuki Takayama President, Research Institute for Policies on Pension and Aging, Tokyo, and professor emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo 'In a changing world where pensions are more than ever linked to labor markets, communication tools, and flexibility considerations, this anthology provides a unique up-to-date analysis of nonfinancial defined contribution pension schemes. By mixing international experiences and theoretical studies, it demonstrates the high adaptability of such pension schemes to changing social challenges.' Pierre Devolder Professor of Finance and Actuarial Sciences, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

The Challenge of Public Pension Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies

The Challenge of Public Pension Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies
Author: Mr.Benedict J. Clements
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 86
Release: 2013-01-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 147556631X

Pension reform is high on the policy agenda of many advanced and emerging market economies. In advanced economies the challenge is generally to contain future increases in public pension spending as the population ages. In emerging market economies, the challenges are often different. Where pension coverage is extensive, the issues are similar to those in advanced economies. Where pension coverage is low, the key challenge will be to expand coverage in a fiscally sustainable manner. This volume examines the outlook for public pension spending over the coming decades and the options for reform in 52 advanced and emerging market economies.

Pension Reform

Pension Reform
Author: Robert Holzmann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 692
Release: 2006
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 082136166X

This book presents 25 state of the art papers on the conceptual foundations and issues surrounding Non-financial, or Notional, Defined Contribution (NDC), country implementation of NDC (Italy, Latvia, Poland, and Sweden) and case studies for countries where NDC is figured in the reform debate. This book is intended to be a handbook for academics and policy makers who want to become informed about what NDC is and to learn about the pros and cons of this attractive reform proposal.

Old-age Income Support in the 21st Century

Old-age Income Support in the 21st Century
Author: Robert Holzmann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 082136040X

The past decade has brought an increasing recognition to the importance of pension systems to the economic stability of nations and the security of their aging populations. This report attempts to explain current policy thinking and update the World Bank's perspective on pension reform. This book incorporates lessons learned from recent Bank experiences and research that have significantly increased knowledge and insight regarding how best to proceed in the future. The book has a comprehensive introduction and two main parts. Part I presents the conceptual underpinnings for the Bank's thinking on pension systems and reforms, including structure of Bank lending in this area. Part II highlights key design and implementation issues where it signals areas of confidence and areas for further research and experience, and includes a section on regional reform experiences, including Latin American and Europe and Central Asia.

Assessing Chile's Pension System: Challenges and Reform Options

Assessing Chile's Pension System: Challenges and Reform Options
Author: Samuel Pienknagura
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2021-09-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 151359611X

Chile’s pension system came under close scrutiny in recent years. This paper takes stock of the adequacy of the system and highlights its challenges. Chile’s defined contribution system was quite influential when introduced, and was taken as an example by other countries. However, it is now delivering low replacement rates relative to OECD peers, as its parameters did not adapt over time to changing demographics and global returns, while informality persists in the labor market. In the absence of reforms, the system’s inability to deliver adequate outcomes for a large share of participants will continue to magnify, as demographic trends and low global interest rates will continue to reduce replacement rates. In addition, recent legislation allowing for pension savings withdrawals to counter the effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, is projected to further reduce replacement rates and increase fiscal costs. A substantial improvement in replacement rates is feasible, via a reform that raises contribution rates and the retirement age, coupled with policies that increases workers’ contribution density.