February 2017

03Feb

Austerity, ageing and the financialisation of pensions policy in the UK

By Craig Berry This article offers a detailed analysis of the recent history of pensions policy in the United Kingdom, culminating in two apparent `revolutions' in policy now underway: the introduction of `automatic enrolment' into private pensions, and proposals for a new `single-tier' state pension. These reforms are considered exemplary of the `financialisation' of UK welfare provision -- typified in pensions policy by the notion that individuals must take personal responsibility for their own long-term financial security, and engage intimately...

February 3, 2017
Articles, Pension design, Regulation, System Sustainability,
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03Feb

Micro-pensions in India: Issues and challenges

By Savita Shankar & Mukul G. Asher This article aims to fill a gap in the social security literature on India by examining the role of micro-pensions. The analysis suggests that because of the heterogeneity of the target population, micro-pension products — with microfinance institutions (MFIs) as the main, but not only sponsors — should be voluntary and portable and permit experimentation in their design and in the delivery of services. Accordingly, decentralized micro-pension schemes that operate within an appropriate...

February 3, 2017
Adequacy, Articles, Corporate Governance, Pension design,
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03Feb

Pensions for Public-Sector Employees : Lessons from OECD Countries’ Experience

By Edward Whitehouse In 27 out of 34 OECD member countries, there is institutionally separate retirement-income provision for some or all public-sector workers. But the scope of these pension schemes varies significantly: from a modest top-up to the national pension arrangements (covering private-sector workers as well) to entirely independent retirement-income regimes. Average expenditure on these schemes amounts to about 1.5 percent of GDP, or nearly a quarter of total public pension spending. Public-sector pension reform is an issue of great...

February 3, 2017
Pension design, Regulation,
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January 2017

12Jan

2016 SBST report

By Social and Behavioral Sciences Team - Last September, President Obama issued an Executive Order directing Federal agencies to integrate behavioral-science insights—research insights about how people make decisions and act on them—into the design of their policies and programs. The Executive Order also charged the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST), a cross-agency group of applied behavioral scientists, program officials, and policymakers, with providing policy guidance and advice to Federal agencies in support of this directive. The Social and Behavioral Sciences...

January 12, 2017
Aging, Pension design
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