Many pension schemes mandated by governments have accumulated large reserves. The management of these funds has a direct effect on financial sustainability, and potential benefit levels. It also has important indirect effects on the overall economy when the funds are large. Part I of this study...

The aim of this paper is to provide some guidance on how to carry out a social protection (SP) expenditure, performance and finance review - given the absence of social protection in public expenditure review (PER) work to date. Such a review will enable countries (i) to better use their SP...

A critical question in the transition to a funded, private pension system is whether the new private element is presented as a mandate or choice to current and future workers. This report sets out the spectrum of available options and looks at policy in 13 reforming countries-Argentina, Bolivia,...

A growing number of countries have introduced mandatory defined contribution schemes. As these schemes mature, their success will increasingly depend on how well they translate accumulated funds into a stream of retirement income. Successful reforms will rely on a well regulated, and competitive...

The objectives of this paper are to highlight some of the potential and limitations of microinsurance in the context of Social Risk Management (SRM) framework to stimulate further discussion. The paper draws on existing literature on SRM and microinsurance. Where relevant, it invokes lessons...

This paper, the first in a series on public information, and pension reform to explore issues examining a range of country experiences, looks at the experience in the United Kingdom (UK), where a number of initiatives to improve general, and individual pension information, are described, and...

Because defined-contribution systems expose pensions to a number of risks, reforming governments have often strictly regulated the pension fund industry's structure, performance, and investments. This paper compares the rules in the new systems of Latin America and Eastern Europe with richer...