Pension Security in the 21st Century Redrawing the Public-Private Debate

by Clark, Gordon L.; Whiteside, Noel

• ISBN13: 9780199261765
• ISBN10: 0199261768
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Future pension provision is highly controversial; it juxtaposes the challenges of old age security with the exigencies of global finance. Clearly, demography, finance and public accountability are crucial to current political debate. But there are other important issues. The problems of paying for the retirement of the baby boom generation has exposed profound differences in the advanced economies in terms of their financial institutions and infrastructure. Pension security has been re-conceptualized in part as an issue of global finance and international comparative advantage bringing with it a re-definition of risk and pension security. This book examines how major continental European and Anglo-American countries are dealing with these pressures, to what extent these responses are beginning to redraw the boundaries between public and private responsibility for pension security and what the implications of public-private partnerships are for the financial organization and infrastructure of European and global financial markets and the nation-based welfare state. The contributors all involved in policy development in their respective countries, assess the comparative strengths and weaknesses of recent pension initiatives in the light of continuing fiscal constraints and current market instabilities. Using a tight comparative framework, the book questions assumed divisions between states and markets, as new divisions between public and private spheres of pension responsibility require new regulatory machinery to guarantee future security. This book provides a vital reference point in understanding pension security in the 21st century for academics and postgraduates in the social sciences, economics and finance, geography, politics and social policy, policy makers in OECD countries and industry professionals.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xv
List of Figures	xvi
List of Tables	xvii
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	xviii
Editors and Contributors	xxiii
Introduction	1	(20)
GORDON L. CLARK AND NOEL WHITESIDE
Back to the future?	3	(4)
Market idealism and pension provision	7	(6)
Pension futures	13	(8)
1 Historical Perspectives and the Politics of Pension Reform	21	(23)
NOEL WHITESIDE
1.1 Introduction	21	(2)
1.2 Promoting partnership: British pension reform in the 1960's	23	(9)
1.3 Comparative trajectories: The European dimension	32	(8)
1.4 Conclusions: Moving beyond the public-private divide	40	(2)
Notes	42	(2)
2 Pensions: The European Debate	44	(20)
PHILIPPE POCHET
2.1 Introduction	44	(5)
2.2 Towards a single market	49	(4)
2.3 The economic and monetary stability of the European Union	53	(3)
2.4 Pensions: A social question?	56	(2)
2.5 Conclusions	58	(4)
Notes	62	(2)
3 Is there a Dutch Way to Pension Reform?	64	(29)
BART VAN RIEL, ANTON FIEMERIJCK, AND JELLE VISSER
3.1 Introduction	64	(2)
3.2 An overview of the Dutch pension system	66	(3)
3.3 Asset allocation in Dutch pension funds	69	(3)
3.4 Long-term challenges facing the Dutch pension system	72	(8)
3.5 Policy responses	80	(6)
3.6 Well prepared to meet the challenges?	86	(4)
3.7 Conclusions	90	(1)
Notes	91	(2)
4 Facing the Pension Crisis in France	93	(22)
BRUNO PALIER
4.1 Introduction: Demographic trends and the pension problem	93	(2)
4.2 A complex pension system that is difficult to reform	95	(3)
4.3 Much debate, little reform	98	(5)
4.4 Towards pension savings	103
4.5 Changing the balance between public and private pensions	100	(12)
4.6 Conclusions: The social consequences of the new public-private divide	112	(1)
Notes	113	(2)
5 Private Pensions as Partial Substitute for Public Pensions in Germany	115	(29)
WINFRIED SCHMÄHL
5.1 Introduction: The public-private divide in Germany's pension debates	115	(3)
5.2 Institutional structure and objectives of Germany's pension schemes	118	(6)
5.3 Framing the pension debate	124	(2)
5.4 The 2001 pension reform: A paradigm shift and a change in the public-private mix	126	(8)
5.5 New rules for private and occupational pensions	134	(3)
5.6 Conclusions: Implications of the shift towards private and occupational pensions	137	(4)
Notes	141	(3)
6 Pension Reform in Sweden and the Changing Boundaries Between Public and Private	144	(24)
JOAKIM PALME
6.1 Introduction	144	(1)
6.2 The background to the reform	145	(6)
6.3 The content of the reform	151	(5)
6.4 Pre-funding and integration with global financial markets	156	(3)
6.5 Changing public-private boundaries	159	(3)
6.6 Conclusions: The future for nation-based welfare states	162	(4)
Notes	166	(2)
7 Pension Reform in the United Kingdom: Increasing the Role of Private Provision?	168	(25)
CARL EMMERSON
7.1 Introduction	168	(2)
7.2 Demographic trends	170	(1)
7.3 The current UK pension system	171	(4)
7.4 The framework of debate	175	(6)
7.5 Redrawing the public-private divide: Domestic issues	181	(6)
7.6 Redrawing the public-private divide: International issues	187	(3)
7.7 Conclusions	190	(2)
Notes	192	(1)
8 Restructuring Pensions for the Twenty-first Century: The United States' Social Security Debate	193	(32)
ALICIA H. MUNNELL
8.1 Introduction	193	(2)
8.2 Demographic, financial, and political pressures on pensions in the United States	195	(9)
8.3 Redrawing the boundaries between public and private responsibilities?	204	(9)
8.4 How would privatisation affect individuals, financial markets, and the nation?	213	(8)
8.5 Conclusion	221	(1)
Notes	222	(3)
9 Twenty-first-century Pension (In)Security	225	(27)
GORDON L. CLARK
9.1 Introduction	225	(1)
9.2 Pension prospects in the global economy	226	(2)
9.3 European pension income security	228	(4)
9.4 Employer-sponsored supplementary pensions	232	(4)
9.5 Risk and return in global stock markets	236	(7)
9.6 Regulation of pension security	243	(3)
9.7 Implications and conclusions	246	(3)
Notes	249	(3)
Bibliography	252	(21)
Citation Index	273	(4)
Subject Index	277