The Influence of Trade Unions on Pension Reform in Romania and Hungary: The Role of Ideas, Interests and Institutions in Policy-Making

Although both Romania and Hungary have inherited pay-as-you-go defined benefit (PAYG-DB) pensions systems, they have both moved towards a three-pillar pensions system, in which PAYG-DB becomes just one of three pillars together with the mandatory and the voluntary private pension funds. Trade unions have had an important influence on pension reform in both countries. The analysis of pension reform in Hungary and Romania brings evidence that trade unions’ influence on policy-making is not uniform, but it is shaped by the international policy discourse, by the institutional setting, by their relationship with other policy actors, by their organisational culture and even material inheritance.