Overview of the Issue

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-195
Author(s):  
JEFFREY BROWN ◽  
STEVEN HABERMAN ◽  
MOSHE MILEVSKY ◽  
MIKE ORSZAG

This is the final issue of the first volume of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. We are pleased that the Journal has had a very successful first year, both in terms of the quality of submissions and in terms of building up an extensive and high quality subscription base. We will report in more detail on our first year as well as our plans for the future in the first issue of the second volume.The four articles in this issue span a broad range of topics. The first article is by David McCarthy (Oxford University, Institute of Ageing), Olivia Mitchell (University of Pennsylvania, Pension Research Council) and John Piggott (University of New South Wales, Centre for Pensions and Superannuation) who have written a paper entitled: Asset rich and cash poor: retirement provision and housing policy in Singapore.As mandatory defined contribution systems are increasingly adopted around the world, the experience in Singapore is particularly relevant in that its Central Provident Fund (CPF) is one of the oldest major international examples of a mandatory defined contribution pension system. With funds representing roughly 60% of Singapore's GDP, the CPF is also one of the most prominent publicly managed investment funds in the world.The particular focal point of the McCarthy et al. paper is the effect of rules in Singapore which allow individuals to use their accumulated funds to pay for housing. The use of retirement savings vehicles for approved purposes, such as medical care, education and unemployment, is an important policy issue, with most countries continuing to have strict prohibitions on drawing funds prior to retirement.

Author(s):  
Mary Rangel

Na perspectiva da Psicologia Social (no enfoque, moscoviciano, da representação), foram investigados conceitos e imagens do cotidiano popidar na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, conforme se apresentam em cartilhas adotadas em escolas públicas. Procurou-se, então, notar a possível influência da literatura citico-social da alfabetização (acentuada desde o final dos anos 70) que, entre outras questões, discute a dissociação entre conhecimento (escolar) e realidade, enfatizando o princípio de aprendizagens significativas e contextualizadas. Nas análises, confrontaram-se as representações com "indicadores sociais" do cotidiano, levantados em estudos sociológicos. Os resultados demonstraram a predominância de conceitos e imagens de situações que, não só se distanciam, como invertem as que se apresentam nos "indicadores ". Desse modo, permanece a constatação de que o mundo das crianças não encontra significado no mundo das cartilhas. Abstract In the perspective of Social Psychology (in the Moscovite focal point of the representation), concepts and images of the popular quotidian in Rio de Janeiro city have been investigated, as they present themselves in the spelling books adopted in public schools. One endeavoured, then, to note the possible influence of the critical-social literature of the first year of schooling (accentuated since the end of the 70s), which, among other matters, discusses the dissociation between knowledge (scholar) and reality, enphasizing the principle of significative and contextualized apprendticeships. In the analysis, the representations confront themselves with "social indicators" of the quotidian, raised up in sociologie studies. The results demonstrated the predominance of concepts and images of situations which not only keep away from, as well as invert the ones which present themselves in the "indicators ". Thus, endures the evidence that the world of the children does not find significance in the world of the spelling books. Résumé Sous la perspective de la Psychologie Sociale, d 'après Moscovici (1978), ont été analises concepts et images du quotidien populaire dans la ville de Rio de Janeiro, selon ils se présentent dans les abécédaires adoptés dans les écoles publiques. Nous avons cherché, alors, observer la possible influence de la littérature critique-sociale (accentuée dès le final des années 70) sur l'alphabétisation. Cette littérature, parmi d 'autres questions, discute la dissociation entre savoir (scolaire) et réalité, en emphatisant le principe des apprentissages significatifs et contextualisés. Dans les analyses se confrontent les représentations avec les "indicateurs " sociaux du quotidien, relevés dans les études sociologiques. Les résultats ont démontré la prédominance des concepts et des images de situations que, non seulement s'éloignent comme inversent celles qui se présentent dans les "indicateurs". Ainsi, il nous reste la constatation que le monde des enfants ne recontre pas de signification dans le motide des abécédaires. Resumen En la perspectiva de la Psicoligia Social (en el enfoque moscoviciano de la representación), se investigaron conceptos y imágenes de lo cotidiano popular en la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro, según se presentan en cartillas adoptadas en escuelas públicas. Se procuró observar la posible influencia de la literatura crítico-social de la alfabetización, incrementada desde finales de los años setenta, que, entre otros temas, discute la disociación entre conocimiento (escolar) y realidad, enfatizando el principio de aprendizajes significativos y contextuados. En los análisis se confrontali las representaciones con "indicadores sociales" de lo cotidiano, obtenidos en estudios sociológicos. Los resultados han demostrado la predominancia de conceptos e imágenes de situaciones que no sólo se alejan, sino que invierten las presentadas en los "indicadores ". De esta manera, permanece la constatación de que el mundo de los niños no encuentra sifnificado en el mundo de las cartillas.


Author(s):  
Phillip A. Braun

Alice Monroe, a 30-year-old married mother of two, was an admissions officer at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She was just completing her first year of service at Northwestern and qualified for the university's 403(b) retirement plan. It was early October 2017, and she had until the end of the month to decide if and to what extent she would participate in Northwestern's retirement plan–that is, how much of her salary should she put into the retirement plan, and into which mutual fund or funds should she allocate her savings? The case includes background on defined contribution and benefit plans as well as mutual funds. It goes into detail about Northwestern's retirement plan, including data on the performance of 15 of the plan's core mutual funds. The case also provides each fund's strategy, Morningstar Rating and Morningstar Category, expense ratio, assets under management, turnover rate, and historical performance for the last 10 years. Using modern portfolio theory (diversification and risk-return trade-off) and with an understanding of mutual fund fees and the tax advantages of retirement savings, students will decide how much Alice should invest and in which mutual funds.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAVIER ALONSO ◽  
CARMEN HOYO ◽  
DAVID TUESTA

AbstractThe reform of the pension system of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in 1997, limited the growing fiscal cost of the previous pay-as-you-go scheme. Sixteen years on from its creation, the Retirement Savings System (SAR) has had favourable macroeconomic effects for Mexico, as it has significantly increased financial savings and encouraged the development of local financial markets.However, the employment and pension coverage has not developed as hoped, due to the high rate of informality in the labour market. In addition, the replacement rates (RR) forecast for old-age pensions from the defined-contribution scheme will be low, due to problems exogenous to the pension system, such as low contribution rates and low contribution densities. The main objective of this study is to develop a macroeconomic and actuarial projection model to simulate the expected coverage and RR for the period 2012–2050, within the framework of a demographic and economic forecast that will allow a detailed diagnosis of the current conditions of the pension system. The results reveal the unpromising scenario that the pension system has and will continue to have in the long term, with limited improvements in coverage rates. The possibility of obtaining adequate pensions will be restricted to those who have socioeconomic conditions with a long employment history, who can thus make contributions to their individual accounts.Taking into account this baseline projection scenario, we simulate the expected effects of applying a set of proposals with the aim of tackling the main problems, such as the low coverage, low RR, and low level of participation by young people in the system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-299
Author(s):  
Antonio Gualberto Pereira ◽  
Luís Eduardo Afonso

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify arrangements of fully funded defined contribution (FF-DC) pension plans associated with the continuity of retirement savings.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted an experimental design composed of a control group and two treatment groups. In all groups, individuals made decisions throughout nine periods: five during the working period and four at the postretirement stage. The authors asked participants if they wanted to join a pension plan, and which plan. The authors offered three plans with different risk profiles: plan 1 (high risk), plan 2 (moderate) and plan 3 (low risk) and one risk-free plan, plan 4. In treatment groups 1 and 2, there was an automatic enrollment of the participants in the default plan (moderate risk), and in the following periods they had to decide whether to continue contributing, and in this case, to which plan, with a defined percentage.FindingsIn treatment scenarios, participants chose the riskiest plan in all periods of the experiment, and most of them chose the risk-free plan in period 5. These findings suggest that pension plans with automatic enrollment, employer matching and low risk foster the continuation of retirement savings.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has as limitation the fact that the sample is not representative of the population and therefore does not allow generalizations. This is because the authors use social media ads to prospect respondents.Practical implicationsThe research's findings can be relevant for the design of public policies for private pension plans, suggesting that compulsory automatic enrollment can be used as default in plans offered by the employers. The results encourage the inclusion of behavioral elements in the design of the pension system, paying attention to the nudges. In this sense, it is possible to increase participation in the pension plan and develop low cost programs to increase the amount accumulated by people before retirement.Social implicationsDecision-making architecture, such as automatic enrollment, can improve individuals' retirement decisions, affecting savings and welfare in the long run.Originality/valueAlthough the effect of pension plan designs is widely studied in other countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom, the authors are unaware of a national empirical research that seeks to understand how different arrangements affect an individual choice through an experiment.


2003 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Gupta

Ageing populations with increased life expectancy, low mortality rates, and decreasing and volatile returns in financial markets have made old age financial security difficult. Further, escalating costs of the pension system are forcing the Indian government to re- evaluate its programmes providing social security to its employees. The government has so far received three official reports (namely, OASIS, IRDA, and Bhattacharya) which have examined the issue and suggested several measures to provide a safety net to the ageing population. This paper examines the recommendations made in these reports and analyses the potential effects of them. It is organized around five policy questions: Should the reformed system create individual (funded defined-contribution) accounts or should it remain a single collective fund with a defined-benefit formula? The policy issue is who bears the risk - individual or society collectively. If individual accounts are adopted, should public or private agencies administer the reformed system? The issues that need to be resolved are: the magnitude of intermediation costs, agency problem (principal-agent fiduciary relationship), and the costs to administer the plan. Should fund managers of retirement savings be allowed to invest in a diversified portfolio that includes shares and private bonds? Equity markets are highly volatile and go through long periods of feasts and famine. Guarantees need to be provided in the form of minimum return or providing minimum basic pension on retirement and the bearer of these conjectural liabilities needs to be decided. What should be the level of government fiscal support in the form of tax subsidy, foregone tax collections, grants, administrative costs incurred by its agencies, and level of assumed contingent liabilities in case the government guarantees minimum pension? The crucial question is: how much and to whom is this subsidy accruing? Should the government move toward advance funding of its pension obligations for its employees or should these obligations continue to be financed on pay-as-you-go basis? The present problem in the government pension system is due to successive governments behaving like Santa Clauses ignoring the cost to the exchequer. Mere privatization would not be able to solve these problems. An all-embracing pension reform is not possible overnight. Efforts should be made to find ways of supporting new systems that may supplement existing systems. Suggested measures include: A tax-financed and means-tested system for lower income groups. To build second pillar, continue publicly managed public system for people earning less than Rs 6,500 a month; and for others who can bear the risk, appoint an independent regulator to help develop and supervise private sector in offering risk- return efficient pension products with tax subsidy already available under Section B0CCC. There is no moral justification in India for providing tax benefits to privileged groups to build third pillar. Government should refrain from frequent tinkering of tax laws to benefit a few. This paper also suggests specific fiscal and other measures for implementing a feasible and viable pension system in lndian conditions. For the present, the least that the government can do is to appoint an independent regulator who would also act as developer and make EPFO an independent agency having professional experts on its board.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chinweike Eseonu ◽  
Martin A Cortes

There is a culture of disengagement from social consideration in engineering disciplines. This means that first year engineering students, who arrive planning to change the world through engineering, lose this passion as they progress through the engineering curriculum. The community driven technology innovation and investment program described in this paper is an attempt to reverse this trend by fusing community engagement with the normal engineering design process. This approach differs from existing project or trip based approaches – outreach – because the focus is on local communities with which the university team forms a long-term partnership through weekly in-person meetings and community driven problem statements – engagement.


1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
ICR Holford

Long-term yields, nitrogen uptake and responsiveness of grain sorghum following three lucerne rotations, an annual legume rotation, long fallowing, and continuous wheat growing were measured on a black earth and red clay in northern New South Wales. The three lucerne rotations compared two methods of lucerne establishment (with or without a cover crop) and two methods of grazing management (short or extended grazing).There were large beneficial effects of lucerne leys on the first grain sorghum crop, whether they were measured as grain yield, nitrogen content of the foliage and grain, or nitrogen uptake. The effect was much smaller in the second year but it increased in the third and fourth years, in direct relation to the rainfall during the sorghum flowering period. The effect was larger on the black earth than on the red clay, reflecting the much higher lucerne yields on the former soil. Evidence indicated that the nitrogen contribution from lucerne after the first year was no greater than the nitrogen accumulated by long fallowing, and this was attributed to very low rainfall and lucerne yields during the four year ley period.The annual legume rotation suffered from drought and insect damage in most years, and following sorghum yields tended to be lower than those achieved by long fallowing.Differences in the effects of establishment method and grazing management on total lucerne yields were reflected in the differences in subsequent grain sorghum yields. Largest differences were on the black earth where extended grazing lowered the total yields of lucerne and subsequent grain sorghum. Sowing lucerne under wheat had little effect on total yields of lucerne or sorghum.


1979 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  

The New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group feels that more emphasis needs to be placed on the training of teachers in regards to Aboriginal education.Many first year teachers are sent to country areas with a relatively high percentage of Aboriginal students. In the main, these teachers have had little or no contact with Aboriginal children or parents.


1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lunney ◽  
B. Cullis ◽  
P. Eby

This study of the effects of logging on small mammals in Mumbulla State Forest on the south coast of New South Wales included the effects of a fire in November 1980 and a drought throughout the study period from June 1980 to June 1983. Rattus fuscipes was sensitive to change: logging had a significant impact on its numbers, response to ground cover, and recapture rate; fire had a more severe effect, and drought retarded the post-fire recovery of the population. The three species of dasyurid marsupials differed markedly in their response to ground cover, canopy cover, logging and fire. Antechinus stuartii was distributed evenly through all habitats and was not affected by logging, but fire had an immediate and adverse effect which was sustained by the intense drought. A. swainsonii markedly preferred the regenerating forest, and was not seen again after the fire, the failure of the population being attributed to its dependence on dense ground cover. Sminthopsis leucopus was found in low numbers, appeared to prefer forest with sparse ground cover, and showed no immediate response to logging or fire; its disappearance by the third year post-fire suggests that regenerating forest is inimical to the survival of this species. Mus musculus showed no response to logging. In the first year following the fire its numbers were still very low, but in the next year there was a short-lived plague which coincided with the only respite in the 3-year drought and, importantly, occurred in the intensely burnt parts of the forest. The options for managing this forest for the conservation of small mammals include minimising fire, retaining unlogged forest, extending the time over which alternate coupes are logged and minimising disturbance from heavy machinery.


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