September 2018

Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Evaluation of the Effects of Corruption on Public Projects

By Robert J Brent (Fordham University) Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is the basis for rational economic decision making, whether it is for the government or individuals. If benefits are greater than costs, then a project or activity should be expanded. If costs are greater than the benefits, the project or activity should be contracted. And if benefits equal costs, the existing scale of operations is optimal. A social CBA obtains its measurement principles concerning the benefits and costs from applied welfare...

Investment Consultants Market Investigation. Provisional Decision report

By CMA Overview of our provisional decision Investment consultancy and fiduciary management services influence the pension outcomes for millions of people. It is vital that competition within these markets works well. Both investment consultancy and fiduciary management are useful services for many pension schemes, helping them to manage their investments well on behalf of scheme members. We have provisionally found that there is an adverse effect on competition and that material customer detriment may be expected to result from it in both the...

The Cost-Benefit Revolution

By Robert Walmsley University Professor Cass R Sunstein Why policies should be based on careful consideration of their costs and benefits rather than on intuition, popular opinion, interest groups, and anecdotes. Opinions on government policies vary widely. Some people feel passionately about the child obesity epidemic and support government regulation of sugary drinks. Others argue that people should be able to eat and drink whatever they like. Some people are alarmed about climate change and favor aggressive government intervention. Others don't...

2018 Global Retirement Index: An in-depth assessment of welfare in retirement around the world

From Natixis Retirement security is arguably at the crossroads of history. On one side is the three-pillar funding model that’s been the basis of retirement systems across the globe for the better part of a century. On the other is the reality of 21st century demographics, fiscal imbalances, and monetary policies that are straining the resources of governments, employers and individuals worldwide. In the balance is our ability as a society to provide individuals with the opportunities and resources that...

Pensions and living with your kids

By Markus Goldstein When a government implements a policy, there is often a question about how it will interact and/or displace existing informal practices. For example, awhile back there was a lot of discussion around how government provided insurance would displace (or not) informal risk sharing arrangements that may have been doing a good job of protecting some people from risk. But it’s hard to address this kind of question deeply in a randomized control trial. A lot of the informal...

Retirement Savings Policy: Past, Present, and Future

By Michael P. Barry "Mike brings to this work his comprehensive experience and consummate technical talent in a beautifully readable book. A treasure." --Frank Cummings, Former Adjunct Lecturer in Law at UVA Law School, Columbia Law School, NYU Law School, and ALI-ABA Retirement Savings Policy reviews the basic policies that govern retirement savings plans, and their real world application, focusing on the key issues of finance, taxation, fiduciary conduct, and employee choice. The discussion is framed around the three fundamental challenges confronting...

China's Pension Reforms: Political Institutions, Skill Formation and Pension Policy in China (China Policy Series)

By Ke Meng Existing literature has looked at many factors which have shaped Chinese pension reforms. As China’s pension reform proceeds in an expanding and localising fashion, this book argues that there is a pressing need to examine it in the context of China’s political institutions and economic transformations. The book takes a unique approach by looking at political institutions of the Chinese state and the changing conditions of the Chinese economy, which rarely receive proper treatment in the current...

China’s Pension Reforms: Political Institutions, Skill Formation and Pension Policy in China (China Policy Series)

By Ke Meng Existing literature has looked at many factors which have shaped Chinese pension reforms. As China’s pension reform proceeds in an expanding and localising fashion, this book argues that there is a pressing need to examine it in the context of China’s political institutions and economic transformations. The book takes a unique approach by looking at political institutions of the Chinese state and the changing conditions of the Chinese economy, which rarely receive proper treatment in the current...

August 2018

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Relationship to Youth Employment (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report)

By por Jonathan Gruber ,‎ David A. Wise  Many countries have social security systems that are currently financially unsustainable. Economists and policy makers have long studied this problem and identified two key causes. First, as declining birth rates raise the share of older persons in the population, the ratio of retirees to benefits-paying employees increases. Second, as falling mortality rates increase lifespans, retirees receive benefits for longer than in the past. Further exacerbating the situation, the provisions of social security...

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Working Longer

By Courtney Coile This is the introduction and summary to the eighth phase of an ongoing project on Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World. This project, which compares the experiences of a dozen developed countries, was launched in the mid 1990s following decades of decline in the labor force participation rate of older men. The first several phases of the project document that social security program provisions can create powerful incentives for retirement that are strongly correlated with...