The changes that are taking place in the structure of the population of many Western countries are likely to require considerable adjustments in their social security programs. A partial shift from pay-as-you-go (PAYG) to funding is one of the solutions frequently considered. This paper, without...

Trade unions are understood to be losing a great part of their capacity of pressure and influence in post-fordist economies. This paper shows how the role played by the Spanish trade unions in the process of reform of the pension system has been very significant.

Population ageing implies that the large pay-as-you-go social security programs implemented in many OECD economies will run into severe financial problems. By means of a numerical overlapping generations model, this paper investigates the intergenerational welfare effects of a transition to...

Non-contributory social security is increasingly attracting the attention of developing country policymakers and observers, not least as a mechanism to help address the perceived failure of contributory social security to reduce poverty in developing countries. This development is most visible...

This paper explores insurance as a source of financial system vulnerability. It provides a brief overview of the insurance industry and reviews the risks it faces, as well as several recent failures of insurance companies that had systemic implications. Assimilation of banking-type activities by...

Contingent liabilities have gained prominence in the analysis of public finance. Indeed, history is full of episodes in which the financial position of the public sector is substantially altered-or its true nature uncovered-as a result of government bailouts of financial or nonfinancial...

In this paper, I breifly discuss the current structure of Japan's public pension system, the history of that system, and some of the problems with the current system and then make a number of recommendations for reforming the system. I argue that Japan's current public pension system hasan...

The retired population can be expected to make a substantial claim on the economic resources of virtually every nation. This book is geared to helping planners devise workable and efficient pension systems for Caribbean nations. It offers specific discussions of instruments, programs, and...

The combination of slow economic growth and the effects of accelerating population ageing had a big impact on the social and economic environment. But despite this, in the recent period could be observed that the social security systems best able to manage the crisis’ social and economic...

Chile was the first country to introduce structural pension reform based upon a funded pillar. Implemented in 1981, Chilean pension reform inspired many other Latin American countries. During the nineties, an important literature analysed the positive and negative aspects of pension funds in...