admin, Author at Pension Policy International

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Consumer Confusion: The Choice of Afore in Mexico

By Roberto Calderón-Colín, Enrique E. Dominguez & Moises J. Schwartz This paper was prepared for the World Bank 4th Annual Contractual Savings Conference (Washington DC, April 2008) co-organized by Gregorio Impavido. The article shows that account transfers among pension administrators in Mexico barely respond to price or return considerations and in general has not improved the consumer's pension balance. Instead of strengthening competition through lower fees and higher returns for the consumer, AFORE switching has so far undermined the system...

February 4, 2017

Articles, Labor Market, Regulation, SupervisionBehavior, Management, Mexico, Regulation

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Older Peoples’ Willingness to Delay Social Security Claiming

By Raimond Maurer & Olivia S. Mitchell We have designed and fielded an experimental module in the 2014 HRS which seeks to measure older persons’ willingness to voluntarily defer claiming of Social Security benefits. In addition, we evaluate the stated willingness of older individuals to work longer, depending on the Social Security incentives offered to delay claiming their benefits. Our project extends previous work by analyzing the results from our HRS module and comparing findings from other data sources which...

February 4, 2017

Aging, Articles, Labor MarketSocial Protection

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Pension Risk and Risk-Based Supervision in Defined Contribution Pension Funds

By Tony Randle & Heinz P. Rudolph Defined contribution pension systems have faced criticism in the wake of the financial and economic crisis for not delivering adequate and sustainable pension incomes at retirement. Much of the problem has centered around the misalignment of pension fund management companies and the interests of pension fund members, with the focus on short-term volatility rather than delivering adequate pension income over the long term. Although pension fund supervisors in emerging economies have attempted to...

February 4, 2017

Articles, Regulation, SupervisionRegulation, Sustainability

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Private Pension Funds in Hungary: Early Performance and Regulatory Issues

By Dimitri Vittas The early performance of Hungary's voluntary private pension funds suggests that concerns about Hungary's ability to implement successful pension reform may be exaggerated. Despite the limited scope resulting from the high payroll taxes for the compulsory, unfunded public pillar in Hungary's pension system, the early performance of the voluntary private pension funds has been encouraging and in many respects better than expected. Investment returns have been well above the rate of inflation and participation has expanded rapidly....

February 4, 2017

Articles, Regulation, SupervisionRegulation, Sustainability

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

European System of Financial Supervision

By Thomas Papadopoulos In September 2009, the European Commission (‘the Commission’) brought forward proposals to replace the EU’s existing supervisory architecture with a European System of Financial Supervision (‘ESFS’), consisting of three European Supervisory Authorities — the European Banking Authority (‘EBA’), the European Securities and Markets Authority (‘ESMA’), and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (‘EIOPA’) (hereinafter collectively referred to as the ‘ESAs’) — as well as the European Systemic Risk Board (‘ESRB’), the Joint Committee of the European...

February 4, 2017

Articles, Regulation, SupervisionManagement, Regulation

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Risk-Based Supervision of Pension Funds: A Review of International Experience and Preliminary Assessment of the First Outcomes

By Gregory Brunner, Richard Hinz & Roberto de Rezende Rocha This paper provides a review of the design and experience of risk-based pension fund supervision in several countries that have been leaders in the development of these methods. The utilization of risk-based methods originates primarily in the supervision of banks. In recent years it has increasingly been extended to other types of financial intermediaries including pension funds and insurers. The trend toward risk-based supervision of pensions is closely associated with...

February 4, 2017

Articles, SupervisionManagement, Regulation

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

How Behavioral Economics Trims Its Sails and Why

By Ryan Bubb & Richard Pildes The preference of behavioral law and economics (BLE) for regulatory approaches that preserve “freedom of choice” has led to incomplete policy analysis and inefficient policies. BLE has been broadly regarded as among the most promising new developments in public policymaking theory and practice. As social science, BLE offers hope that better understanding of human behavior will provide a sounder foundation for policy design. As politics, BLE offers a possible political consensus built around minimalist...

February 4, 2017

Articles, RegulationBehavior

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Lessons for Public Pensions from Utah’s Move to Pension Choice

By Robert L. Clark, Emma Hanson & Olivia S. Mitchell This paper explores what happened when the state of Utah moved away from its traditional defined benefit pension. Instead, it offered new hires a choice between a conventional defined contribution plan, versus a hybrid plan option having both a guaranteed benefit component and a defined contribution plan shifting investment risk to employees. We show that some 60 percent of new hires failed to make any active choice and, as a...

February 4, 2017

Articles, RegulationLabor Market, Mandatory pensions, Voluntary pensions

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Behavioral Portfolio Management

By Thomas Howard Behavioral Portfolio Management (BPM) is presented as a superior way to make investment decisions. Underlying BPM is the dynamic market interplay between Emotional Crowds and Behavioral Data Investors. BPM’s first Basic Principle is that Emotional Crowds dominate the determination of both prices and volatility, with fundamentals playing a small role. The second Basic Principle is that Behavioral Data Investors earn superior returns. I present the evidence supporting these first two Principles. The third Basic Principle is that...

February 4, 2017

Articles, Corporate Governance, InvestingBehavior

04FebFebruary 4, 2017

Nudging: A Very Short Guide

By Cass R. Sunstein This brief essay offers a general introduction to the idea of nudging, along with a list of ten of the most important “nudges.” It also provides a short discussion of the question whether to create some kind of separate “behavioral insights unit,” capable of conducting its own research, or instead to rely on existing institutions. Full Content: SSRN

February 4, 2017

Articles, RegulationBehavior, Regulation

February 2017