In the absence of any official measures of old age poverty, this paper uses National Sample Survey household-level data to investigate the extent and nature of living standards and incidence of poverty among elderly in sixteen major states in India. We construct both individual and...

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...

This paper argues that it is important to take into account unfunded public pension liabilities as part of an assessment of the overall fiscal situation, including the fiscal positions of pension schemes pre and post reforms. It examines the concept of the implicit pension debt (IPD) and...

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...

Cash transfers for the elderly with little or no link to previous contribution, or work history are employed in many countries to provide income support for the elderly. In the context of the larger debate over pension reform, some argue that these'social pensions'are an effective way to deal...

After discussing the evolution of the policy dialogue in Hungary, this report broadly describes the reform of the pay-as-you-go public pension system and its partial privatization as legislated in July 1997. Through a combination of a debt and tax financed transition, the first partial pension...

A large number of public pension schemes around the world have accumulated significant reserves. Pre-funding might reduce the risk that future governments will not be able to meet pension obligations. The management of these funds therefore, has a direct effect on financial sustainability and...

The trend toward including individual accounts as part of the mandatory pension system continues unabated. Nine Latin American countries have introduced individual accounts (Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua) and several more are preparing to...

This study summarizes current policies in the non-OPEC countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Its objectives are to: (a) provide an overview and comparative analysis of the formal old-age social security systems in the region; (b) highlight the link between pension policy and...