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The paper is focused on pensions systems in the light of two case studies which are antagonistic within the capitalist economy. On the one hand, the case of the Spanish pension scheme, based on the principle of intergenerational solidarity. This system, conquered by the working class after decades of struggle, constitutes the backbone of the Spanish Social Security system thanks to the creation and development of indirect and deferred wages. On the other hand, the Chilean pension scheme imposed by the Pinochet dictatorship and subsequently maintained. This system, based on individual capitalization and private management, rejects the principle of solidarity and, therefore, it makes impossible the construction of a decent pension structure. The comparison of the Spanish and the Chilean pension systems can be expressed in just one revealing fact: while in Spain pensions reach on average 79% of the last salary earned, in Chile benefits barely reach 33% for male workers and 25% for female workers. The analysis of both cases is framed on the critique of political economy and hence it is totally opposed to the current mainstream in economics. Instead of assuming methodological individualism and a harmonious view of human societies, as orthodoxy does, the critical paradigm conceives capitalist economy as a dialectic process determined by the existence of social classes with different and opposed interests., Depto. de Economía Aplicada, Estructura e Historia, Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, TRUE, pub

Encontrar a escala europea el mejor instrumento jurídico de participación financiera de los trabajadores en las empresas, de modo que sea posible su acceso al capital social, es hoy un objetivo deseable dentro del sector de la innovación social en el ámbito del empleo. Además, constituye un objetivo especialmente necesario para articular la sucesión empresarial de PYMEs, así como de sociedades familiares, especialmente importante en momentos como los actuales de relevo generacional. Proyectos europeos como el SI-Drive han puesto de manifiesto desde la economía, la sociología y la psicología organizacional que esta cuestión (workplace innovation), tiene un potencial clave para coadyuvar a las organizaciones a generar valor y a crear paralelamente las condiciones contractuales necesarias que permitan involucrar a los empleados en la vida empresarial. El presente trabajo es un análisis a la luz del Derecho privado de aquellas fórmulas jurídicas adecuadas (en especial, los fondos protegidos) que permitan la participación de los trabajadores mediante el reconocimiento jurídico de la titularidad del capital., Finding at European level the best legal instrument for workers' financial participation in companies to make possible their access to social capital is today a desirable objective within the sector of social innovation in the field of employment. In addition, it is an especially necessary objective to articulate the business succession of SMEs, as well as family-owned companies, especially important at times such as the current generational change. European projects such as SIDrive have revealed from the economy, sociology and organizational psychology that this issue (workplace innovation) has a key potential, among other things, to help organizations create value and conditions in parallel necessary to enable employees to be involved in business life. The present work aims to analyze in the light of the Private Law the appropriate legal formulas (protected funds specially) that allow the employees participation through the legal recognition of the ownership of the capital., Escuela de Estudios Cooperativos, Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, TRUE, pub

Ageing is the major challenge for the PAYG pension systems in developed countries. Most of them are undergoing reforms in order to adapt to the new demographic reality. The package of reforms implemented includes increasing the retirement age, reducing the replacement rate, or introducing a sustainability factor linking pension to life expectancy. The aim of this paper is to analyse the potential consequences of a different type of reform that is at a very incipient stage in Spain but that could have a significant impact if it were fully implemented. This reform, called ‘silent reform’ because it is imperceptible to citizens in its early stages, basically consists in increasing maximum pensions in line with inflation instead of wage or productivity growth. This policy is reducing the replacement rate only for high earning workers and increasing the redistributive component of the system. This paper is the first to quantify and evaluate the potential consequences of this type of reform in Spain. We have used an accounting model with heterogeneous agents and overlapping generations in order to project pension expenditure for the next six decades. The results show that this type of reform could potentially contain future expenditure but at the cost of changing the nature of the pension system from a contributory or Bismarckian-type system into a pure redistributive pension system or Beveridgean-type one., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), Depto. de Análisis Económico y Economía Cuantitativa, Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, TRUE, pub

Rationale The health of the population aged 55 to 69 influences their labour supply and retirement decisions. This article aims to document their health status, in Spain and in other European countries, drawing on data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Takeaways •There are marked differences by gender in the health status of the Spanish population aged 65 to 69. Among women, 62.9% report chronic health problems, 30.1% mobility limitations and 32.1% depression-related symptoms, compared with 53.3%, 15.8% and 16.3%, respectively, among men. These prevalences are significantly higher in the 65 to 69 age group than in the 55 to 64 age group. •However, there were some improvements in the incidence of health problems between cohorts in these age groups. For instance, the prevalence of chronic diseases and of mobility limitations among women aged 55 to 64 was lower in 2015 than in 2004. •In comparison with other European countries, in Spain the prevalence of the three health indicators considered is high among women between 65 and 69. Moreover, Spain is one of the countries with the highest increases in health problems in the 65 to 69 age group compared with the 55 to 64 age group.

Motivación La salud de la población de 55-69 años condiciona su oferta de trabajo y decisión de jubilación. El objetivo de este artículo es documentar el estado de salud de estos colectivos, en España y en otros países europeos, a partir de la Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Ideas principales •Las diferencias por género en la salud de los españoles de 65-69 años son sustanciales: entre las mujeres, el 62,9 % reportan problemas crónicos, el 30,1 % problemas de movilidad y el 32,1 % síntomas asociados a la depresión; entre los hombres, estos valores son del 53,3 %, el 15,8 % y el 16,3 %, respectivamente. Estas prevalencias son significativamente mayores entre las personas de 65-69 años que entre las de 55-64 años. •No obstante, se han producido algunas mejoras en la incidencia de problemas de salud entre cohortes a estas edades. Por ejemplo, al comparar 2015 con 2004, las mujeres de entre 55 y 64 años presentaban menores prevalencias de problemas crónicos de salud y de movilidad. •En el contexto europeo, se observan prevalencias elevadas de estos problemas de salud para las mujeres españolas de 65-69 años. España es uno de los países con mayores aumentos en las prevalencias en el grupo de 65-69 años respecto al grupo de 55-64 años.

Using a large-scale survey of U.S. households during the COVID-19 pandemic, we study how new information about fiscal and monetary policy responses to the crisis affects households’ expectations. We provide random subsets of participants in the Nielsen Homescan panel with different combinations of information about the severity of the pandemic, recent actions by the Federal Reserve, stimulus measures, as well as recommendations from health officials. This experiment allows us to assess to what extent these policy announcements alter the beliefs and spending plans of households. In short, they do not, contrary to the powerful effects they have in standard macroeconomic models.

This paper reports the results from a large telephone survey of 1,000 retiring white-collar workers in Sweden. Shortly before the interview, the participants at age 65 had a choice of receiving a life annuity by default or opting for a fixed-term payout, with a minimum payout length of 5 years. Large monetary amounts were at stake in the payout decision of the survey participants; the average monthly pension payment under the life annuity amounted to US $280. Comparing the survey responses with administrative records on actual payout choices, I find that a majority of retiring white-collar workers fail to recall their payout decision. The recollection rate is much lower among annuitants (those who chose the default option); only 40% of the annuitants accurately recalled their payout decision compared to 77% of those who opted for a fixed-term payout. Beyond payout choice, few individual characteristics predict successful recollection.

Artículo de revista, This article estimates the financial return provided by the Spanish pension system for a sample of new retirees in 2017, calculated on the basis of the Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales. The findings show an average real annual return (understood as the discount factor that equates the present value of the contributions paid over a working life with the value of the expected pension) of 3.5%, the 25th and 75th percentiles of the distribution of the estimated returns being 2.5% and 4.2%, respectively. By type of pension, the lowest returns are associated with early retirement, while late retirement produces higher returns, although these are still lower than for ordinary retirement. In terms of pension unit cost, the system would provide more than €1 of benefit for each euro of contribution for most of the individuals in the sample. The findings show that, on average, 2017 retirees receive €1.74 of pension for each euro of contribution; the 25th and 75th percentiles of the distribution are €1.25 and €2.03, respectively.

Artículo de revista, Population ageing is a major global challenge. The Latin American economies have a younger population structure than other emerging and advanced economies, which has allowed them to enjoy the so-called demographic dividend (a favourable working age/non-working age population ratio). However, according to the latest demographic projections of the United Nations (UN), it is estimated that in 2020 the Latin American population pyramid will resemble that of the advanced economies in 1990 and that, by around 2050, both groups will have similar population profiles. This article documents the current demographic trends in Latin America and discusses the main related challenges, in particular, those arising from the adaptation of social welfare systems to population ageing.

Artículo de revista, This article analyses recent developments in the average effective retirement age in light of the 2011 reform and the different forms of retirement. The analysis shows, first, that the effective retirement age has tended to increase in recent years as a result of the net increase in the retirement age within all forms of retirement, which has more than offset the opposite effect prompted by the growing share of the various forms of early retirement. Second, the impact of the 2011 reform, from the standpoint of retirement age, seemingly remains limited, as the percentage of new retirees who take retirement on the basis of legislation prior to the reform is still significant, and the statutory retirement age for workers with sufficiently lengthy contribution histories is still 65. Third, on average, workers who take some form of early or partial retirement have the lowest retirement age, although they generally have longer contribution periods and higher regulatory bases.

Artículo de revista, Este artículo estima el rendimiento financiero que proveería el sistema de pensiones español para una muestra de altas de jubilación del año 2017, calculado a partir de la Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales. Los resultados señalan que el rendimiento real medio anual —entendido como el factor de descuento que iguala el valor presente de las cotizaciones durante la vida laboral y el de la pensión esperada— alcanzaría el 3,5 %, siendo los percentiles 25 y 75 de la distribución de los rendimientos estimados el 2,5 % y el 4,2 %, respectivamente. Por clase de pensión, las rentabilidades más bajas estarían asociadas a las jubilaciones anticipadas. Por otro lado, las jubilaciones demoradas, si bien producirían rendimientos superiores, ofrecerían rendimientos aun inferiores a las jubilaciones ordinarias. En términos de coste por pensión unitaria, el sistema proveería más de un euro de prestación por cada euro de cotización aportado para la mayor parte de los individuos de la muestra. En media, las altas de 2017 recibirían 1,74 euros de prestación por cada euro de cotización, siendo los percentiles 25 y 75 de la distribución 1,25 y 2,03 euros, respectivamente.

Artículo de revista, El envejecimiento de la población es uno de los grandes retos globales. Las economías de América Latina presentan una estructura de población más joven que la de otras economías emergentes y que la de las avanzadas, lo que les ha permitido disfrutar del llamado «dividendo demográfico» (una proporción favorable de la población en edad de trabajar con respecto a la que no se encuentra en edad activa). Sin embargo, según las últimas proyecciones demográficas de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), se estima que en 2020 la pirámide de población de América Latina será como la que mostraban las economías avanzadas en 1990 y, hacia 2050, ambos grupos de países mostrarán perfiles poblacionales similares. En este artículo se documentan las tendencias demográficas actuales para Latinoamérica y se discuten los principales retos asociados (en particular, los relacionados con la adecuación de los sistemas de previsión social al envejecimiento progresivo de la población).

We estimate the influence of various factors on life satisfaction of Czech seniors in a large survey sample. We find that good health, more education and awareness of voluntary work participation, employee satisfaction and being currently employed are the main factors that contribute to being satisfied with the current quality of life in the group of Czech seniors. Surprisingly enough, increasing selfreported financial sufficiency is negatively associated with the quality of life. The main factors contributing to the life dissatisfaction are associated with being socially separated. The worst outcomes are recorded for those living in social homes and living alone. Any reported expectations of expected life changes (both positive and negative expectations) are associated with lower probability of life satisfaction.

This paper deals with the idea of converting retirement benefit into a life care annuity with graded benefits using a pre-existing public pay-as-you-go pension scheme. Based on accurate biometric data from Australia and the US, the paper shows that using gender-neutral annuity factors to compute the initial benefit involves a large increase in ex-ante gender redistribution compared to a system without long-term coverage. In spite of the very different biometric data, the results are surprisingly similar for both countries. To disentangle the hidden redistribution, a methodology based on conversion (actuarial) factors is used. The value of the actuarial factor relies on a multistate framework in which transitions are modeled from the initial health state to the absorbing state. We also look at what might happen if an annuitant’s initial heath state is not able when they become a beneficiary., Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico (ICAE), TRUE, pub

This article analyses the evolution of income inequality in Argentina through the decomposition of the Gini coefficient by income sources. The dynamic analysis allows for simultaneous changes in participation and concentration of different income sources to be understood. The time periods that are the object of the analysis contrast diverse macroeconomic contexts, labour market institutions and social protection policies that were implemented. The results indicate that labour income is the main driver of distributive dynamics while retirement income has also played an important role. We also find that the evolution of income distribution in Argentina is closely related to labour market institutions and macroeconomics., Este artículo examina la evolución de la desigualdad del ingreso Argentina, por medio de la descomposición del coeficiente de Gini por fuentes de ingreso. El análisis dinámico permite la comprensión de los cambios simultáneos en la participación y concentración de las fuentes de ingresos. El periodo de análisis contrasta contextos macroeconómicos diferentes, las instituciones del mercado de trabajo y las políticas de protección social implementadas. Los resultados indican que los ingresos laborales son el principal conductor de la dinámica distributiva y que, a su vez, los ingresos de las jubilaciones y pensiones también han tenido un papel importante. También observamos que la evolución de la distribución del ingreso en Argentina se ve afectada por la evolución de las instituciones y la macroeconomía del mercado laboral., Esse artigo examina a evolução da desigualdade quanto à receita na Argentina, mediante a decomposição do coeficiente de Gini por fontes de receita. A análise dinâmica permite a compreensão dos câmbios simultâneos na participação e concentração das fontes de receitas. O período de análise contrasta contextos macroeconómicos diferentes, as instituições do mercado de trabalho e as políticas de proteção social implementadas. Os resultados indicam que as receitas trabalhistas são o principal condutor da dinâmica distributiva e que, por sua vez, as receitas das aposentadorias e pensões também têm tido um papel importante. Similarmente observamos que a evolução da distribuição da receita na Argentina se vê afetada pela evolução das instituições e da macroeconomia do mercado trabalhista.

In Romania, the State Social Security Budget spending exceeds the revenues, and this situation leads to a growing deficit of the public budget. This evolution is the result of a complex of factors, more or less difficult to be managed, which we analyze in this article. The phenomenon of ageing has a significant role in increasing the pressure on the social protection systems, in general, and on the pension system, in particular. Also, the labour market related factors and the economic factors have an important impact on the sustainability of the pension system. The design of the pension system is equally important.

In Romania, the State Social Security Budget spending exceeds the revenues, and this situation leads to a growing deficit of the public budget. This evolution is the result of a complex of factors, more or less difficult to be managed, which we analyze in this article. The phenomenon of ageing has a significant role in increasing the pressure on the social protection systems, in general, and on the pension system, in particular. Also, the labour market related factors and the economic factors have an important impact on the sustainability of the pension system. The design of the pension system is equally important.

We develop a life cycle model featuring an optimal retirement decision in the presence of physiological aging. In modeling the aging process we draw on recent advances within the fields of biology and medicine. In the model individuals decide on optimal consumption during life, the age of retirement, and (via health investments) the timing of their death. Accordingly, “years in retirement” is fully endogenously determined. Using the model we can account for the evolution of age of retirement and longevity across cohorts born between 1850 and 1940 in the US. Our analysis indicates that 2/3 of the observed increase in longevity can be accounted for by wage growth, whereas the driver behind the observed rising age of retirement appears to have been technological change in health care. Both technology and income contribute to the rise in years in retirement, but the contribution from income is slightly greater.

CEPAR Working Paper 2017/19, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This paper studies how firms set contributions to employer provided 401(k)-type pension plans. Using a reform that decreased the subsidy to contributions to capital pension accounts for Danish workers in the top income tax bracket, we provide strong evidence that employers' contributions are based on their employees' savings preferences. We find an immediate decrease in employer contributions to capital accounts, whose magnitude increased in the share of employees directly affected by the reform. This response was large relative to average employee responses within private IRA-type plans and was accompanied by a similar magnitude shift of employer contributions to annuity accounts.

El envejecimiento de la población es un proceso imparable que continúa suponiendo un reto para la sostenibilidad del sistema de reparto de pensiones en la mayoría de los países desarrollados, incluida España. Gran parte de estos países necesitan llevar a cabo reformas en sus sistemas de pensiones para controlar su gasto y, en algunos casos, ya han empezado. Sin embargo, existen otros mecanismos que suponen cambios en parámetros del sistema, que al ser percibidos como secundarios por los ciudadanos no son apreciados como tal reforma. Este es el caso de modificaciones en los topes de las pensiones y de las bases de cotización y que en España se ha denominado, por parte de los expertos en pensiones, como la «Reforma silenciosa». El objetivo de este documento es analizar las implicaciones que este tipo de reforma tendría en el caso de España, siendo el primer trabajo que cuantifi ca y evalúa su potencial impacto en dicho país. Con este fin se ha empleado un modelo de proyección contable, con generaciones solapadas y agentes heterogéneos, de gastos del sistema de pensiones español hasta el año 2070. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que este tipo de reforma no solo tendría potencial para contener el gasto futuro, sino que también podría suponer un cambio en la naturaleza del sistema al ser capaz de convertir un sistema contributivo (o Bismarckiano) en otro de tipo asistencial (o Beveridge). Esto último podría tener importantes consecuencias, pues ambos sistemas persiguen objetivos distintos. En el documento también se pone de relieve que las características institucionales que hacen posible este tipo de reforma en España existen al mismo tiempo en la mayoría de los países desarrollados con sistemas de pensiones tipo Bismarckiano. Y por lo tanto, creemos que las lecciones aprendidas en este documento para el caso español podrían ser de utilidad para otros países, Aging is an unstoppable process and it remains a major challenge for the sustainability of the PAYG pension system in most developed countries, including in Spain. Many countries need to introduce reforms of their pension systems in order to control their expenditure, and in some cases this has already begun. However, there are other sorts of changes to certain parameters that are perceived as secondary, e.g. the different path of minimum and maximum pensions, and the upper and lower caps on contributions. This has signifi cant implications for the distributive structure of the social security system that cannot be readily perceived by the population. That is why some economists in Spain refer to it as the “Silent Reform”. The aim of this paper is to analyse the consequences this type of reform would have in Spain, indeed, it is the fi rst paper to actually quantify and evaluate the potential impact it would have on the country. We have used an accounting model with heterogeneous agents and overlapping generations in order to project pension expenditures up until 2070. The results show that this kind of reform could potentially contain future expenditure and could also change the nature of the pension system from a contributory or Bismarckian-type system into an assistential or Beveridgean-type one. This change could have signifi cant consequences as both systems have different objectives. The paper also shows that the institutional characteristics that make this kind of reform in Spain feasible are also present in most developed countries with Bismarckian pension systems. Therefore, we believe that the lessons learned in this paper on this kind of reform could well prove useful to other countries

The paper aims to shed light on the policies and consequences of the current retirement age in Romania. The retirement age has been repeatedly incremented in Romania in the last couple of years in order to try to compensate for the fact that the country has a low general employment rate, only 30% of the population, while having 20% of the total population aged 65+. By using an econometric model we will first prove the existence of an optimal retirement age that might vary for each and every one of us, after which we will explore different possibilities of exploiting this information in order to improve the current retirement programs. Mainly, we will look at the possible solution of eliminating the mandatory retirement age in certain work sectors through a comparison analysis.

En este trabajo analizamos las pautas de jubilación de parejas en el contexto europeo utilizando datos de la Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). En concreto, evaluamos si las salidas del mercado de trabajo de las mujeres (hombres) están causadas por el hecho de que sus maridos (mujeres) dejen de trabajar, usando la variación institucional en las edades oficiales de jubilación (anticipada y normal) específicas de cada país como instrumento. Explotando las discontinuidades en los incentivos a la jubilación de cada país, encontramos que la jubilación de los maridos tiene un efecto significativo de entre 16 y 18 puntos porcentuales en la probabilidad de dejar de trabajar de sus mujeres. Para los hombres el efecto es similar en magnitud, pero no es estadísticamente significativo. Este efecto indirecto de la jubilación conjunta puede tener importantes consecuencias para la implementación de reformas, In this paper we study the retirement patterns of couples in a multi-country setting using data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe. In particular, we test whether women’s (men’s) transitions out of the labor force are causally related to the actual realization of their husbands’ (wives’) transition, using the institutional variation in country-specific early and full statutory retirement ages to instrument the latter. Exploiting the discontinuities in retirement behavior across countries, we find a significant joint retirement effect, especially for women, of around 16 to 18 percentage points. For men, we find a similar but less precise effect. Our empirical strategy allows us to give a causal interpretation to the effect we estimate. In addition, this effect has important implications for policy analysis

In recent years, the study of how individuals respond to policies that aim at promoting pension savings has emerged as a vital area of economic research. This paper adds to this body of literature by estimating the tax price elasticity of contributions to tax-favoured pension-savings accounts on a population of self-employed individuals. I exploit a unique total database over the Swedish population that covers the years 19992005. Using instrumental variables, I obtain a tax price elasticity estimate of -0.51 and an income elasticity estimate of 0.13, whereas ordinary least-squares (OLS) produces estimates that conflict with consumer theory.

This paper examines Social Security benefit claiming behavior in the US using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to implement a duration model. It focuses essentially on the rushing/delaying behavior of the unemployed and investigates whether older unemployed individuals lacking liquidity use Social Security benefits as a safety net in order to finance consumption during an unemployment episode. In this way, Social Security might be thought as a form of unemployment insurance allowing people to maintain their standard of living during their job search. The purpose of this paper is hence to find empirical evidence about the potential insurance function of Social Security benefits, which would provide support for integrating Unemployment Insurance with Retirement Insurance even before eligibility for Social Security (SS) benefits. I find that being unemployed and in the left tail of the income distribution strongly predicts early claiming without retiring, meaning that although people claim their Social Security benefits, these unemployed individuals want to stay within the labor force, and could use these benefits in their costful job search process.

This paper examines Social Security benefit claiming behavior in the US using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to implement a duration model. It focuses essentially on the rushing/delaying behavior of the unemployed and investigates whether older unemployed individuals lacking liquidity use Social Security benefits as a safety net in order to finance consumption during an unemployment episode. In this way, Social Security might be thought as a form of unemployment insurance allowing people to maintain their standard of living during their job search. The purpose of this paper is hence to find empirical evidence about the potential insurance function of Social Security benefits, which would provide support for integrating Unemployment Insurance with Retirement Insurance even before eligibility for Social Security (SS) benefits. I find that being unemployed and in the left tail of the income distribution strongly predicts early claiming without retiring, meaning that although people claim their Social Security benefits, these unemployed individuals want to stay within the labor force, and could use these benefits in their costful job search process.

This paper examines Social Security benefit claiming behavior in the US using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to implement a duration model. It focuses essentially on the rushing/delaying behavior of the unemployed and investigates whether older unemployed individuals lacking liquidity use Social Security benefits as a safety net in order to finance consumption during an unemployment episode. In this way, Social Security might be thought as a form of unemployment insurance allowing people to maintain their standard of living during their job search. The purpose of this paper is hence to find empirical evidence about the potential insurance function of Social Security benefits, which would provide support for integrating Unemployment Insurance with Retirement Insurance even before eligibility for Social Security (SS) benefits. I find that being unemployed and in the left tail of the income distribution strongly predicts early claiming without retiring, meaning that although people claim their Social Security benefits, these unemployed individuals want to stay within the labor force, and could use these benefits in their costful job search process.

This paper examines Social Security benefit claiming behavior in the US using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to implement a duration model. It focuses essentially on the rushing/delaying behavior of the unemployed and investigates whether older unemployed individuals lacking liquidity use Social Security benefits as a safety net in order to finance consumption during an unemployment episode. In this way, Social Security might be thought as a form of unemployment insurance allowing people to maintain their standard of living during their job search. The purpose of this paper is hence to find empirical evidence about the potential insurance function of Social Security benefits, which would provide support for integrating Unemployment Insurance with Retirement Insurance even before eligibility for Social Security (SS) benefits. I find that being unemployed and in the left tail of the income distribution strongly predicts early claiming without retiring, meaning that although people claim their Social Security benefits, these unemployed individuals want to stay within the labor force, and could use these benefits in their costful job search process.

Comme beaucoup d’autres pays européens, le Portugal a engagé des réformes de son systèmede retraite dans le but de fournir aux futurs retraités un revenu de remplacement suffisant tout enconciliant un juste équilibre entre les différents régimes. L’introduction de compléments parcapitalisation a été une de ces réformes. Cet article présente les concepts fondamentaux toutcomme les déterminants de l’évolution des fonds de pension. Ce faisant, l’article fournit unecaractérisation détaillée et essaie d’évaluer l’impact du vieillissement sur l’avenir du marché desfonds de pension au Portugal., Similar to other European countries, Portugal has taken reforms on its retirement system inorder to ensure an adequate income replacement rate to future beneficiaries, guarantying a fairbalance between different regimes. The development of funded private pensions as acomplement to public schemes is one of these reforms. The paper presents the fundamentalconcepts as well as the determinants of evolution of pension funds. Additionally, the papergives a detailed characterization and analyses the ageing impact on pension funds market inPortugal., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Comme beaucoup d’autres pays européens, le Portugal a engagé des réformes de son systèmede retraite dans le but de fournir aux futurs retraités un revenu de remplacement suffisant tout enconciliant un juste équilibre entre les différents régimes. L’introduction de compléments parcapitalisation a été une de ces réformes. Cet article présente les concepts fondamentaux toutcomme les déterminants de l’évolution des fonds de pension. Ce faisant, l’article fournit unecaractérisation détaillée et essaie d’évaluer l’impact du vieillissement sur l’avenir du marché desfonds de pension au Portugal., Similar to other European countries, Portugal has taken reforms on its retirement system inorder to ensure an adequate income replacement rate to future beneficiaries, guarantying a fairbalance between different regimes. The development of funded private pensions as acomplement to public schemes is one of these reforms. The paper presents the fundamentalconcepts as well as the determinants of evolution of pension funds. Additionally, the papergives a detailed characterization and analyses the ageing impact on pension funds market inPortugal., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper highlights the employment patterns of China's over 45 population and, for perspective, places them in the context of work and retirement patterns in Indonesia, Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom. As is common in many developing countries, China can be characterized as having two retirement systems: a formal system, under which urban employees receive generous pensions and face mandatory retirement by age 60, and an informal system, under which rural residents and individuals in the informal sector rely on family support in old age and have much longer working lives. Gender differences in age of exit from work are shown to be much greater in urban China than in rural areas, and also greater than observed in Korea and Indonesia. Descriptive evidence is presented suggesting that pension eligible workers are far more likely to cease productive activity at a relatively young age. A strong relationship between health status and labor supply in rural areas is observed, indicating the potential role that improvements in access to health care may play in extending working lives and also providing some basis for a common perception that older rural residents tend to work as long as they are physically capable. The paper concludes with a discussion of measures that may facilitate longer working lives as China s population ages.

The paper was produced as a background paper on labor issues for the UNDP study Convergence to the European Union: Challenges and Opportunities. It first looks at the issue of how the labor market institutions of an acceding country like Macedonia should be shaped to further the integration of the acceding economy into the European economic space. The successes and the failures of the labor market reform efforts of the new member states are discussed to give some guidance to the discussion. Second, we briefly discuss the assistance programs provided by the European commission to help candidate states in this reform process. Macedonia is the country in Europe with one of the highest unemployment rates and a very large incidence of long-term unemployment. A third area of discussion in the paper is, therefore, the development and implementation of passive and active labor market policies that guarantee an equitable and efficient use of governmental resources given the stylized facts of Macedonian unemployment.

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the problem of population ageing in terms of the cessation of professional activity (and especially premature labour market withdrawals) in order to provide the various public and private administrations active in these fields with some food for thought. Results show that employer-driven obligation to stop working (owing to business closure, redundancy, dismissal, early retirement, etc.), marital status (married/widowed) and health status are the main reasons for the premature cessation of activity common to all four countries studied (Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom), while the desire to retire from the labour market or live off private wealth (voluntary cessation) has a significant effect only for Belgium and the Netherlands. However, the impact of this reason on the retirement age is much lower than that of departure enforced by the employer (2 to 3 times lower in these two countries)., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the problem of population ageing in terms of the cessation of professional activity (and especially premature labour market withdrawals) in order to provide the various public and private administrations active in these fields with some food for thought. Results show that employer-driven obligation to stop working (owing to business closure, redundancy, dismissal, early retirement, etc.), marital status (married/widowed) and health status are the main reasons for the premature cessation of activity common to all four countries studied (Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom), while the desire to retire from the labour market or live off private wealth (voluntary cessation) has a significant effect only for Belgium and the Netherlands. However, the impact of this reason on the retirement age is much lower than that of departure enforced by the employer (2 to 3 times lower in these two countries)., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In this paper we analyse the role that Social Security wealth and incentives play in the transition to retirement in Spain. We use the labour records and other relevant information contained in a newly released database [Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales (2006)] to construct incentive measures stemming from the Social Security provisions in relation to retiring at old age and investigate the role played by such incentives and by other socio-economic variables on the retirement hazard. We compute the effects of the reform that took place in 2002, which made the requirements to access a pension stricter in general. We carry out a dynamic reduced-form analysis of the retirement decision using a duration model. Our results show that both the pension wealth and substitution effects have a significant role on retirement decisions, but that the latter has less relevance since the reform introduced in 2002

Gerrans P., Ghialy, Y. (2014). Retirement savings investment choices: Sophisticated or naive?. Pacific Basin Finance Journal, 30(), 233-250. Available here