October 2017

A New Labour Ecosystem in the Sharing Economy: A Platform for Growth?

By Marta Santos Silva (University of Bremen) The role of the traditional labour market is being challenged by globalisation and modern technology, particularly the unprecedented and generalised use of smartphones. Online platforms facilitating the on-demand economy are radically changing the prospects for the jobs of the future, which will be less regulated and more inclusive. This paper focuses on online ridesharing platforms, particularly Uber as international market leader, and their potential for combating social inequality and developing the transport industry. Online ridesharing platforms...

Homeownership, Social Insurance, and Old-Age Security in the United States and Europe

By Stipica Mudrazija & Barbara A. Butrica (The Urban Institute) Relatively few Americans have accumulated substantial savings outside of their employer-sponsored retirement plans, yet most own their homes. The traditional view of the retirement income system as a three-legged stool supported by Social Security, private pensions, and savings may be better viewed as being supported by Social Security, pensions, and homeownership. Country-specific economic, social, and political developments throughout modern history mean that homeownership rates and the relative importance of homeownership for...

Planning for Retirement? The Importance of Time Preferences

By Robert L. Clark, Robert G. Hammond, Christelle Khalaf, Melinda Sandler Morrill Ensuring retirement income security is a priority for individuals, employers, and policymakers. Using merged administrative and survey data for public sector workers in North Carolina, we explore how workers’ characteristics and preferences are associated with planning and saving for retirement. We then assess the “quality” of a retirement plan and whether retirement behavior is consistent with these plans. The findings indicate that the way that individuals discount future...

Saving the Next Billion from Old Age Poverty. Global Lessons for Local Action

This Book Project is the first of a series of initiatives by pinBox to jumpstart a global dialogue and collaborative action on pension inclusion across Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Book presents the policy outlook, past efforts and planned interventions by several developing countries as well as thematic chapters on the key principles and issues in design and implementation of inclusive pension arrangements. This book was realeased on October 12 on the pinBox Digital Micro-Pension Inclusion Roundtable 2017 For more information...

Occupational Pension Funds (IORPs) & Sustainability: What Does the Prudent Person Principle Say?

By Alexandra Horvathova, Rasmus Kristian Feldthusen & Vibe Ulfbeck (University of Copenhagen) The European Union encourages individuals to save in private and occupational pension funds to complement their state saving-plans. Throughout their lives, employers directly sponsor occupational retirement saving plans, so individual employees may top up their future pensions. While the European Union clearly supports the formation and cross-border participation in these financial vehicles by adopting regulatory framework, the EU has also decided to determine a common investment decision standard...

Occupational Pension Funds (IORPs) & Sustainability: What Does the Prudent Person Principle Say?

By Alexandra Horvathova, Rasmus Kristian Feldthusen & Vibe Ulfbeck (University of Copenhagen) The European Union encourages individuals to save in private and occupational pension funds to complement their state saving-plans. Throughout their lives, employers directly sponsor occupational retirement saving plans, so individual employees may top up their future pensions. While the European Union clearly supports the formation and cross-border participation in these financial vehicles by adopting regulatory framework, the EU has also decided to determine a common investment decision standard...

pinBox Digital Micro-Pension Inclusion Roundtable 2017

On 12 October 2017, pinBox Solutions and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University are co-hosting the first global policy roundtable on digital microPension inclusion. The roundtable co-sponsored by UNCDF, PFIP, CEM Benchmarking, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and microPension Foundation. The roundtable will be platform for the global launch of the new book titled Saving the Next Billion from Old Age Poverty: Global Lessons for Local Action. This book is co-edited by Parul Seth Khanna, William...

September 2017

Annuity Options in Public Pension Plans: The Curious Case of Social Security Leveling

By Robert L. Clark, Robert G. Hammond, Melinda S. Morrill, David Vanderweide Social Security Leveling is an annuity option that allows participants to receive a level income before and after age 62. The retiree receives a larger pension benefit prior to age 62, but then the pension benefit is lowered at age 62 when the individual is expected to claim Social Security benefits. This option is not uncommon in public pension plans, yet little is known about how this option...

Do Good Working Conditions Make You Work Longer? Evidence on Retirement Decisions Using Linked Survey and Register Data

By Petri Bockerman (Labour Institute for Economic Research; University of Turku) and Pekka Ilmakunnas (Aalto University School of Business) We analyze the potential role of adverse working conditions and management practices in the determination of employees' retirement behavior. Our data contain both comprehensive information regarding perceived job disamenities, job satisfaction, and intentions to retire from nationally representative cross-sectional surveys and information on employees' actual retirement decisions from longitudinal register data that can be linked to the surveys. Using a trivariate...

Debt and Financial Vulnerability on the Verge of Retirement

By Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell & Noemi Oggero We analyze older individuals’ debt and financial vulnerability using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). Specifically, in the HRS we examine three different cohorts (individuals age 56–61) in 1992, 2004, and 2010 to evaluate cross-cohort changes in debt over time. We also use two waves of the NFCS (2012 and 2015) to gain additional insights into debt management and older individuals’ capacity...