Old-age Income Support in the 21st Century: An International Perspective on Pension Systems and Reform

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World Bank Publications, 2005 M01 1 - 232 pages
Printed on Demand. Limited stock is held for this title. If you would like to order 30 copies or more please contact books@worldbank.org Contact books@worldbank.org, if currently unavailable. The past decade has brought an increasing recognition to the importance of pension systems to the economic stability of nations and the security of their aging populations. During this time, the World Bank has taken a leading role in addressing this challenge through its support for pension reforms around the world. Old-Age Income Support in the 21st Century attempts to explain current policy thinking and update the World Bank?s perspective on pension reform. The Bank has been involved in pension reforms in nearly 60 countries, and the demand for its support continues to grow. This book incorporates lessons learned from recent Bank experiences and research that have significantly increased knowledge and insight regarding how best to proceed in the future. The book has a comprehensive introduction and two main parts. Part I presents the conceptual underpinnings for the Bank?s thinking on pension systems and reforms, including structure of Bank lending in this area. Part II highlights key design and implementation issues where it signals areas of confidence and areas for further research and experience, and includes a section on regional reform experiences, including Latin American and Europe and Central Asia. This book will be of interest to Bank clients, the international community, and anyone interested in pension systems and reform.

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Page 66 - East Asia and Pacific Europe and Central Asia Latin America and Caribbean Middle East and North Africa South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa...
Page 218 - I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and was Chief Actuary of the Office of the Personnel Management (OPM) for eight years ending in 1980.
Page 1 - The suggested multipillar pension system is composed of some combination of five basic elements: (a) a noncontributory or "zero pillar" (in the form of a demogrant or social pension) that provides a minimal level of protection; 1 (b) a "first-pillar" contributory system that is linked to varying degrees to earnings and seeks to replace some portion of income; (c) a mandatory "second pillar" that is essentially an individual savings account but can be constructed in a variety of ways; (d) voluntary...
Page 190 - Defined contribution: a. pension plan in which the periodic contribution is prescribed and the benefit depends on the contribution plus the investment return.
Page 191 - Full finding: the accumulation of pension reserves that total 100 percent of the present value of all pension liabilities owed to current members. Implicit public pension debt (net): the value of outstanding pension claims on the public sector minus accumulated pension reserves. Intergenerational distribution: income transfers between different age cohorts of persons.
Page 121 - VIA REGULATION OF STRUCTURE Countries have taken different approaches to regulating the fee structure of pension funds. For example, Australia, Hong Kong (China), the United Kingdom, and the United States have few, if any, explicit restrictions on charges and instead regulate charges under the broader "prudence" or "reasonableness
Page 216 - ... fora aimed at improving the international financial architecture. He holds his current position since October 1999. Brian Kahn (1953) is Deputy Chief Economist and Head of the Monetary Policy Research Unit at the South African Reserve Bank. He is also a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee. Before joining the Bank he was Professor of Economics and Director of the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town. From 1991 he was a research associate at the London School of Economies'...
Page 127 - They are demanded at high rather than low per capita income (ie at high per capita income, the time preference or discount rate is lower, which increases the valuation of purchasing coverage for future contingencies, and family ties are weaker, which reduces self-insurance within the family) . Second, credible macroeconomic policy provides an enabling environment for the development of long-term financial instruments...
Page 6 - The primary goals of a pension system should be to provide adequate, affordable, sustainable, and robust retirement income, while seeking to implement welfare-improving schemes in a manner appropriate to the individual country: • An adequate system is one that provides benefits to the full breadth of the population that are sufficient to prevent old-age poverty on a country-specific absolute level in addition to providing a reliable means to smooth lifetime consumption for the vast majority of...
Page 191 - Means-tested benefit: a benefit that is paid only if the recipient's income falls below a certain level. Minimum pension guarantee: a guarantee provided by the government to bring pensions to some minimum level, possibly by "topping up" the capital accumulation needed to fund the pensions. Moral hazard: a situation in which insured people do not protect themselves from risk as much as they would have if they were not insured.

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