April 2020

Informal employment in Mexico: Current situation, policies and challenges

By ILO Informal employment is a persistent problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. Following a decade of economic growth and decline in unemployment rates, there are still 130 million workers holding informal jobs, deprived of social protection and labour rights. This does not mean, however, that there has not been any progress made on the issue of formalization. Formal employment, wage labour and social protection coverage have increased in Latin America and the Caribbean. Now, it is important...

The Future of Social Protection

By OECD Social protection systems are often still designed for the archetypical full-time dependent employee. Work patterns deviating from this model – be it self-employment or online "gig work" – can lead to gaps in social protection coverage. Globalisation and digitalisation are likely to exacerbate this discrepancy as new technologies make it easier and cheaper to offer and find work online, and online work platforms have experienced spectacular growth in recent years. While new technologies and the new forms...

Pension markets in focus

By OECD The 2019 edition of Pension Markets in Focus provides an overview of the funded and private components of pension systems in 88 jurisdictions and outlines latest developments in the markets worldwide. It exhibits an extensive range of indicators relevant to funded and private pension arrangements, harmonised and standardised across jurisdictions. It monitors the key financial aspects of these arrangements, such as the amount of accumulated assets, the way these assets are invested and their investment performance, both...

Pension Funding Index April 2020

By Charles J. Clark and Zorast Wadia Milliman analysis: Corporate pensions in March see surprising $93 billion funded status gain from massive surge in discount rates, despite heavy investment losses Milliman 100 PFI funded ratio improves to 85.6% The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans rose by $93 billion during March as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). The funded status deficit improved to $255 billion at the end of March...

Economic Challenges of Pension Systems : A Sustainability and International Management Perspective

By Marta Peris-Ortiz, José Álvarez-García, Inmaculada Domínguez-Fabián, Pierre Devolder This book examines the major economic challenges associated with the sustainability of public pensions, specifically demographic change, labor-market relations, and risk sharing. The issue of public pensions occupies the political and economic agendas of many major governments in the world. International organizations such as the World Bank and the OECD warn that the economic changes driven by an aging society negatively affects the sustainability of pension systems. This book...

Cost and past performance 2020 report

By EIOPA The European Insurance and Occupations Pensions Authority (EIOPA), has today published its second report on cost and past performance of insurance-based investments products (IBIPs) and personal pension products (PPPs) in the European Union. The report is published following a request from the European Commission to the European Supervisory Authorities to periodically report on the costs and past performance of retail investment products. This report provides an analysis of costs for 2018 and past performance for the period...

The Future of Pension Plans in the EU Internal Market: Coping with Trade-Offs Between Social Rights and Capital Markets

By Nazaré da Costa Cabral, Nuno Cunha Rodrigues This edited volume takes a closer look at various European pension-plan models and the recent challenges, trends and predictions related to the design of such schemes. The contributors analyse new ideas, both from national governments and European institutions, and consider current debates on topics such as the Capital Markets Union (CMU) and the so-called ‘European Pillar of Social Rights’ – calling for a new approach to social policy at the...

Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2019 (MMGPI)

By Mercer, Monash University, MELBOURNE Ageing populations continue to be a significant issue for many economies as we are living longer and fertility rates continue to decline. Pension systems are becoming more important than ever as households want to maintain their living standards throughout retirement. But how is this possible, especially within the economic environment of low interest rates and reduced economic growth? There are implications for employers, employees, governments, as well as the pension funds....

March 2020

OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2018

By OECD The OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2018 is the twelfth edition in a series that biennially reviews key trends in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in OECD countries and a number of major partner economies. The 14 chapters within this edition look at a range of topics, notably the opportunities and challenges related to enhanced data access, the impacts of artificial intelligence on science and manufacturing, and the influence of digitalisation on research and innovation....

Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events

By Robert J Shiller In a world in which internet troll farms attempt to influence foreign elections, can we afford to ignore the power of viral stories to affect economies? In this groundbreaking book, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times bestselling author Robert Shiller offers a new way to think about the economy and economic change. Using a rich array of historical examples and data, Shiller argues that studying popular stories that affect individual and collective economic behavior--what...