The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF) is one of New Zealand's largest publicly-owned financial assets. Its primary purpose is to act as an inter-generational tax smoothing vehicle, in order to assist future taxpayers cover the cost of providing the public pension, New Zealand Superannuation...

This chapter defines a universal public pension scheme (UPPS) as a government-mandated lifecycle longevity insurance scheme that transfers individual consumption from the working years to the retirement phase of the lifecycle. It discusses the differences in four UPPS designs defined with regard...

Social security is increasingly debated in terms of alleged effects of public pensions on economic efficiency. The author reviews the history and rationale for public provision of retirement income, then argues that the efficiency effects of such schemes are negligible. Social security reform in...

The aim of this paper is to analyze a particular demographic risk in pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension funds. We focus on the influence of the demographic variable 'new entrants' and on its impact on the future evolution of the fund. The model adapts well to a closed pension fund which operates...

This paper reviews the literature on the optimal design and regulation of funded pension schemes. We first characterize optimal saving and investment over an individual’s life cycle. Within a stylized modeling framework, we explore optimal individual saving and investing behavior....

The paper provides a framework for the conceptualization, definition and estimation of legacy costs that need to be addressed in a reform that transforms an unfunded defined contribution (NDB) scheme into a notional (or non-financial) defined contribution (NDC) scheme. As the new contribution...

The paper evaluates the theoretical literature on public pension schemes. First, the terms pay-as-you-go and capital reserve are made precise. These two systems are then compared, followed by a consideration of their efficiency properties. Thereafter conversion policies are discussed.