February 2017

04Feb

What Capabilities Do the New Innovation and Structural Change Policies in Uruguay Require?

By Carlos Bianchi, Guillermo Fuentes, Lucía Pittaluga This paper analyzes three organizations that implement productive development policies in Uruguay: (i) the Dirección Nacional de Recursos Naturales Renovables (National Directorate of Renewable Natural Resources); (ii) sectoral councils; and (iii) the Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (National Agency of Research and Innovation). Selected cases show that during the past decade, there was a major effort to boost productive development policies in Uruguay and build capabilities for that purpose. The paper also...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Regulation, System Sustainability,
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04Feb

The Voluntary Contributions Model–Study Regarding The Completion Of The Length Of Service

By Constantin Anghelache & Ana CARP In this article we present the study on “Buying years of service (seniority)” which is a particular case of the voluntary contributions model proposed by the author in a previous work. In the case study presented in this article, we show the groups of people addressed by Law no.186 / 2016 for “buying years of service”, we quantify the results of applying this legislative measure and we estimate the implications on the evolution of...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Pension design, System Sustainability, ,
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04Feb

Finance and Labor: Perspectives on Risk, Inequality and Democracy

By Sanford M. Jacoby This paper considers the association between financial development and labor-market outcomes such as risk and inequality. The relationship is not straightforward, however. It is mediated by politics at the national and corporate levels. Politics spurs financial development, which sets in motion countervailing efforts to restrain the effect of finance on inequality and risk. The empirical analysis relies on historical, comparative, and contemporary evidence. Emphasis is given to recent events in the United States: the political origins...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Labor Market, Regulation, System Sustainability, , ,
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04Feb

The Future of Labor and Employment Law in the United States

By Katherine V.W. Stone There is a serious problem with the labor and employment law system in the United States today: Unions have declined to the point where they represent less than 8 per cent of the private sector workforce, employee wages have stagnated for more than three decades, employers are cutting back on workers' health insurance and pensions, and there is a dramatic growth in the numbers of the working poor. At the same time, there has been a...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Labor Market, Regulation, System Sustainability,
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04Feb

Risk of Disability, Old Age and Death: Pension Sustainability in Colombia

By Sergio Clavijo, Alejandro Vera Sandoval, David Malagón, Laura Clavijo, Andrea Ríos Serna, Ekaterina Cuellar & Nelson Vera This document concludes that the sustainability of the RPM (Pay-as-you-go, defined benefits public regime) looks fragile and is threatened by massive transfers from the RAIS (defined contributions private regime) to the RPM. The fiscal deficit of the RPM could be rising from 140% of GDP (in NPV) to 228% of GDP during the next three decades on account of the migration of...

February 4, 2017
Aging, Articles, System Sustainability,
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04Feb

Towards Sustainable But Still Adequate Pensions in the EU: Theory, Trends and Simulations

By Juraj Draxler & Jorgen Mortensen This report is a summary of the research project on the 'Adequacy and Sustainability of Old-Age Income Maintenance' (AIM). Thirteen institutes from across the EU have collaborated on the task of assessing the situation of today’s pensioners and providing insights into future trends and policy options for securing adequate income for EU pensioners. The AIM project produced several state-of-the-art additions to the debate on EU pension reforms. Among others, the National Institute of Economic and...

February 4, 2017
Adequacy, Articles, System Sustainability
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04Feb

The Performance of Social Security Contributory and Tax-Financed Pensions in Central America, and the Effects of the Global Crisis

By Carmelo Mesa-Lago Sr. Over the last 30 years, Latin America has pioneered structural pension reforms. This article focuses on a representative regional sample of seven Central American countries with diverse levels of development (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) studying contributory and tax-financed pensions as well as recent pension reforms. It comparatively assesses system performance regarding five social security principles: unity; universal coverage; adequacy of benefits; equal treatment, solidarity and gender equality; and financial sustainability....

February 4, 2017
Articles, Regulation, System Sustainability,
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04Feb

Benchmarking Retirement Income Systems Around the World: Which Countries Rank Highest and Why?

By David Knox The variety of retirement income systems around the world is great, with varying dependencies on public-sector pensions, funded private pensions, and savings outside these formal systems. But which are producing the best outcomes? And which are sustainable into the future, as many countries face the effects of a significantly aging population? The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index considers more than 40 indicators in calculating an index value for the systems in 16 countries covering more than half...

February 4, 2017
Articles, Corporate Governance, System Sustainability
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04Feb

How Should the Adequacy of Pension Coverage Be Balanced Against Financial Sustainability?

By Krzysztof Hagemejer & John Woodall In recent decades many countries have “reformed” their contributory pension schemes, generally strengthening the links between benefit entitlements and the contributions paid over members’ working lifetimes, but primarily seeking to (re)balance them financially, in the face of strains arising from unfavourable labour market or demographic conditions. The result has been reduced benefit entitlements and levels of coverage, however assessed. The impact has been felt, particularly, by those with shorter, broken careers (due for example...

February 4, 2017
Adequacy, Articles, System Sustainability, ,
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