Financing Occupational Pensions in the E.E.C.

1974 ◽  
Vol 21 (01) ◽  
pp. 36-57
Author(s):  
C. Waites
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Small State ◽  
Working Population ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
Pension Systems ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level

1.1. One of the declared intentions of the European Economic Community is the harmonization of Social Security arrangements, including State pensions. To the extent that occupational pensions are regarded as an adjunct to Social Security to bring total benefits up to an acceptable level, it is to be expected that the achievement of this aim would have its own effect on occupational pensions and on the way in which these pensions are financed.1.2. In practice progress along this path has been slow and both Social Security and occupational pension systems differ widely from country to country within the E.E.C. On the one hand there are the U.K. and Ireland providing very small State pensions by comparison with most of our neighbours, and at the other extreme Italy, where State pensions are at such a high level for the whole working population that private pensions are virtually non-existent.

The Occupational Pension Trap: Towards a Preliminary Empirical Specification

1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 575-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Walker ◽  
Geoffrey Hardman ◽  
Sandra Hutton
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Small State ◽  
Financial Benefit ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTLegislation in 1985 and 1986 has attempted to give new impetus to the growth of occupational and personal pension schemes. This article demonstrates that, because of the interaction between occupational pensions and means-tested social security provision, many of today's pensioners receive little or no financial benefit from their occupational pension. The evidence presented is consistent with the thesis that the pensioners who are worst affected by the ‘pension trap’ include those who, as workers, were low-paid and experienced interrupted employment. As a consequence they reached retirement with small state and occupational pensions, limited savings and no house which they owned. Many are women. The penetration of occupational and personal pensions is currently lowest among the same groups of workers and it could be that the Government's policy to extend the coverage of private pensions will result in an increase in the severity of the pension trap. Some measures for reducing the impact of the pension trap are discussed.

Towards a New Role for Occupational Pensions in Continental Europe: Elements and Techniques of Solidarity Used within Funded Occupational Pension Schemes

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Stevens ◽  
Gerhard Gieselink ◽  
Bea Van Buggenhout
Keyword(s):  
European Society ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Financial Issues

‘At first glance, it may seem incongruous to talk of private pensions in terms of equity. We do not for example, question whether champagne consumption is fairly distributed.’ This paper is about the debate on occupational pensions in continental Europe. Instead of looking at the financial issues, it looks at the elements of social protection and solidarity within occupational pensions. Occupational pensions are of increasing importance for continental European society. This is indicated by a so-called ‘new pension order’ that is predominantly influenced by the Anglo-Saxon vision of pensions. However, much of the ongoing (legal) debate on pension reform deals with elements such as fairness and redistribution.

scholarly journals How Occupational Pensions Shape Extended Working Lives: Gender, Class and Chance after the Norwegian Pension Reform

2020 ◽  
pp. 095001702095261
Author(s):  
Anne Skevik Grødem ◽  
Jon M Hippe
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Replacement Rate ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
Pension Systems ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
The Future

Individuals’ need for extended working lives depends on the design of pension systems, including occupational pensions. This article examines variation in occupational pension generosity and coverage in Norway’s private sector. The analysis consists of microsimulations of future pension outcomes for cohorts born in 1953, 1963, 1973 and 1983. The first set of calculations estimate average pension levels for individuals with different pension packages who retire at 67; the second, how much longer workers in different cohorts will have to work in order to obtain a replacement rate of 70%. The overall finding is that while all workers in Norway must extend working life in the future, those with the most generous occupational pensions can retire about four years earlier than those with the least generous packages. This shows that the design and regulation of occupational pensions are crucial to the debate on extended working lives.

What determines supply and demand for occupational pensions in Germany?

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHRIN DUMMANN
Keyword(s):  
Pension System ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Demand Side ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Supply Side Factors ◽  
Old Age Benefits

AbstractDemographic change causes an undersupply of financial old age benefits within the statutory pay-as-you-go pension system in Germany. Therefore, the provision of occupational as well as private pensions has to be enhanced. However, there seems to be an undersupply of occupational pension provision particularly in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Using survey data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and the German SAVE survey, the present paper studies econometrically the determinants of occupational pension provision in Germany. It shows that occupational pensions depend not only on supply-side factors such as firm size and industry, but also on demand-side factors such as individual sociodemo-graphic attributes and people's savings motives.

scholarly journals Equality without improvement? A case study of the impact of the Belgian unified status among blue-collar and white-collar workers on their occupational pensions

2021 ◽  
pp. 138826272110319
Author(s):  
Sarah Knoops
Keyword(s):  
White Collar ◽  
Pension Scheme ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
White Collar Workers ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

The long-standing EU acquis of equal pay between male and female workers still proves to be a source of inspiration in the fight against discrimination, even in matters beyond the EU’s competence. This article deals with differences in status between blue- and white-collar workers, which have been haunting many Member States even as technological progress erodes its justification. Although this ground was never protected by EU law, a case study of the Belgian unified status with regard to occupational pensions (the second pension pillar), clearly shows the impact of the jurisprudence of the CJEU. In line with this EU case law, there is no requirement to grant the most beneficial pension scheme to all employees, which could lead to equal, but nevertheless very modest occupational pensions. Based on the preliminary results, we can predict that the Belgian unified status will have a positive effect on the number of blue- and white-collar workers affiliated to a pension scheme. It is, however, unlikely that the high level of benefits of the most generous pension schemes will be retained after harmonisation, considering the financial impact on the employer. It is therefore to be expected that the unified status will indeed lead to equal occupational pension schemes between blue- and white-collar workers, but fail to act as a lever to improve the quality of the second pension pillar in Belgium.

scholarly journals Economic System and Welfare Regime Dynamics in Japan since the Early 2000s – The Case of Occupational Pensions

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
HARALD CONRAD
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
The One ◽  
Japanese Companies ◽  
The Cost

AbstractThis article discusses significant changes of Japanese occupational pensions since the early 2000s. Our analysis shows that these schemes have been key components of policies to promote private welfare provision and have been highly compatible with human capital investment strategies that are based on long-term employment relationships of regular workers. However, since the 1990s, occupational pensions have come under increased pressure due to underfunding problems caused by depressed stock markets and changes in accounting standards that made these underfunding problems apparent. In response to these challenges, Japanese companies have restructured their occupational pension arrangements. The nature of these efforts can be explained with reference to existing institutional complementarities with the economic system on the one hand and changes in the cost–benefit calculations of employers, employees and the civil service on the other hand. Whereas complementarities, especially with human resource management factors, have ultimately defined the limits of these changes, an actor-centered analysis helps to explain the particular nature of changes within these boundaries.

The flexibility of flexicurity: The Danish model reconsidered

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Strøby Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Unskilled Workers ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level ◽  
Skilled And Unskilled Workers ◽  
High Range

During the last five to ten years, much attention internationally has been focused on the concept of flexicurity, and especially on the Danish model of flexicurity. Some have even talked about the Danish ‘magic formula’ of flexicurity. The Danish flexicurity model has been characterized by a special relation between flexibility, social security and active labour market policy, where a high level of social security is seen as a precondition for a labour market characterized by flexibility. In this article it is argued that the Danish labour market is characterized by having not just one model of flexicurity, but two. These two models cover different parts of the labour market and different segments of employees. The first model (the blue-collar flexicurity model) – the one that is often focused on in the literature – covers primarily skilled and unskilled workers on the labour market. The second model (the white-collar flexicurity model) – one seldom mentioned in the literature – covers primarily employees with middle-range or high-range education and qualifications.

scholarly journals Flexicurity og de danske arbejdsmarkedsrelationer – en eller to modeller?

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-51
Author(s):  
Carsten Strøby Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Unskilled Workers ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level ◽  
Rela Tions

Danmark har de senere år været genstand for en betydelig international opmærksomhed knyttet til forhold på det danske arbejdsmarked. Dette har ikke mindst været tilfældet i lyset af den såkaldte flexicuritymodel. Karakteristisk ved flexicuritymodellen er den – i hvert fald i teorien – særlige relation mellem fleksibilitet, social sikkerhed og aktiv arbejdsmarkedspolitik, hvor social sikkerhed og aktiv arbejdsmarkedspolitik ses som tilvejebringende forudsætninger for et arbejdsmarked præget af en høj grad af fleksibilitet. I artiklen analyseres forholdet mellem fleksibilitet og sikkerhed på det danske arbejdsmarked med udgangspunkt i forskellige segmenter af lønmodtagere på arbejdsmarkedet. Artiklens hovedkonklusion er, at der ikke er én, men to forskellige flexicuritymodeller på det danske arbejdsmarkedet. Og at den ”klassiske” – og efterhånden internationalt berømte – danske flexicuritymodel, hvor det på den ene side er let at fyre medarbejdere (hvilket giver høj fleksibilitet), og hvor der på den anden side gives høj kompensation i forbindelse med arbejdsløshed (hvilket giver høj sikkerhed), kun dækker en del af arbejdsstyrken i Danmark. Fleksibiliteten på arbejdsmarkedet – i form af adgang til at fyre medarbejdere – er ikke så høj som det almindeligt antages på alle dele af arbejdsmarkedet, ligesom sikkerheden – i form af kompensation i forbindelse med arbejdsløshed – ikke så høj som det tilsvarende almindeligvis antages i flexicuritylitteraturen. Søgeord: Flexicurity, arbejdsmarked, arbejdsmarkedsrelationer, industrial relations. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Carsten Strøby Jensen: Flexicurity and Employment Rela-tions in Denmark – One or Two Models of Flexicurity In recent years the development of the Danish labour market have been subject of major international attention. This attention has focussed on the so-called flexicurity model that dominates the Danish labour market. Flexicurity has been characterized – at least in theory – by the special relation between flexibility, social security and active labour market policy, where a high level of social security is seen as a precondition for a labour market characterized by flexibility. In this article we will argue that it is possible to identify two different types of institutionalized relations between flexibility and security on the Danish labour market. There is not one model of flexicurity in Denmark, but rather two models that tend to cover different parts of the labour market and different segments of employees. The first model of flexicurity – the one that is often focused on in the literature – covers primarily skilled and unskilled workers on the Danish labour market. The second model of flexicurity – one seldom mentioned in the literature – covers primarily employees with middle-level or high-level education and qualifications. Key words: Industrial relations, labour market, flexicurity, flexibility, security.

Public Procurement Principles Generated by the Treaty of Rome

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-223
Author(s):  
Ioan-Gabriel Popa
Keyword(s):  
European Economic Community ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
European Directives ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
Treaty Of Rome ◽  
General Principles Of Law ◽  
Free Movement Of Goods ◽  
The One

AbstractIn order to understand the principles of public procurement in Romania, it is necessary to analyze, on the one hand, the European directives that regulate the actual public procurement and, on the other hand, the context in which the European directives were adopted. Even with the directives in force, the more general provisions contained in the Treaty of the European Economic Community (EEC) in Rome, hereinafter referred to as the Treaty, are applied, as well as many more general principles of law that will guide the interpretation of these directives. The Treaty was adopted in Rome, in 1957 and became applicable from January 1, 1958. It is considered that the source of the principles of public procurement is the Treaty. Even if in Treaty contained no specific provisions regarding the field of public procurement, it reflects the principles and the general framework for the functioning of the single market, a market characterized through the prism of the fundamental freedoms established by the Treaty: the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons. As the field of public procurement is closely linked to the free movement of goods, this principle is promoted and implemented in the practice of this field based on the regulations, directives and decisions of the Community institutions. The role of the free movement of goods is to harmonize the relationships involved in the process of purchasing goods, but also to ensure the homogeneity, coherence and balance of this process.

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