February 2017

Pensions as a Form of Executive Compensation

By Lisa Goh and Yong Li This paper investigates the role of pensions as an element of total executive compensation, and the relationship between pensions and performance-based compensation in executive pay. Using hand-collected data on FTSE 100 CEOs and senior executives from 2004−2011, we document that pensions function as a substitute for performance-based com-pensation (primarily bonuses) in both cross-sectional and time-series settings. We also examine the effect of corporate governance characteristics on executive pensions. We find that corporate governance characteristics...

Pension Coverage for Parents and Educational Investment in Children : Evidence from Urban China

By Yang Du and Ren Mu When social security is established to provide pensions to parents, their reliance upon children for future financial support decreases, and their need to save for retirement also falls. In this study, the expansion of pension coverage from the state sector to the non-state sector in urban China is used as a quasi-experiment to analyze the intergenerational impact of social security on education investments in children. In a difference-in-differences framework, a significant increase in the...

The Greek Pension Reform Strategy 2010–2015

By Georgios Symeonidis In 2010, Greece, under the pressure of an increasing public debt, was forced to resort to the Troika, which is the designation of the triumvirate which comprises the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Troika agreed to provide Greece with financial help, on special terms recorded in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Greek Government and the Troika. One of the most important reforms that are recorded...

Building Voluntary Pension Schemes in Emerging Economies

By Rodolph Heinz After the financial crisis, some Central and Eastern Europe countries partially or totally reversed the pension reforms they had initiated in the previous two decades. In the presence of an aging population in the region, reductions in replacement rates will be the most likely adjustment mechanism for the social security systems to remain fiscally sustainable. In some other emerging economies, mandatory funded schemes are operating with low contribution rates, and policy makers have not been able to...

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...

Tax treatment of pensions and pensioners

By OECD The personal tax system plays an important role in old-age support. Pensioners often do not pay social security contributions. Personal income taxes are progressive and pension entitlements are usually lower than earnings before retirement, so the average tax rate on pension income is typically less than the tax rate on earned income. In addition, most income tax systems give preferential treatment either to pension incomes or to pensioners, through additional allowances or credits to older people. Full Content: OECD

Nueva ley del ISSSTE y pensiones de retiro

By María Asención Morales Ramírez La nueva Ley del ISSSTE, publicada el 31 de marzo de 2007 en el Diario Oficial de la Federación, de manera general considera cambios en tres aspectos: seguros, pensiones y salud. Respecto de los primeros, presenta una nueva estructura al reducir los 21 seguros y prestaciones a 4 seguros (salud, riesgos de trabajo, retiro, cesantía en edad avanzada y vejez e invalidez y vida), más prestaciones y servicios que estarán en función de la capacidad...

Social Reforms in China: 2016-2020

By Andoni Maiza and Ricardo Bustillo The need to evolve from an export-based economic model towards a different model where domestic consumption plays a larger role is what has driven the Chinese government to design new social policies to give households greater confidence and boost consumption levels. The 13th Five-Year Plan 2016-2020 includes measures to expand the coverage of the pension system, health insurance, and unemployment insurance, and also provides for a new raise to the minimum wage. However, there...

Social security, pensions and old age adults’ poverty in Mexico.

By Araceli Damián After discussing the role of pension systems in capitalism as instruments of redistribution of income between capital and labor and, therefore, of the class struggle, it is recounted how, in a context of a fragmented and inconclusive Welfare State, pension systems emerged in Mexico, and recent reforms to pension systems are analyzed, showing their impact in the reduction of benefits. Lastly, the poverty of the population of retirement age is analyzed in relation to their access to...

Dilemas de la protección social frente a la desaceleración económica

Esta publicación presenta una reflexión respecto de los desafíos de los sistemas de protección social en el Cono Sur frente a las nuevas condiciones tanto del contexto macroeconómico como del mercado laboral. El análisis incluye la situación en Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay. (more…)