China will drag feet on urgent pension reform

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Younger Workers ◽  
Urban Worker ◽  
The Government ◽  
New Research

Subject Pension reform in China. Significance China's main pension fund could be completely depleted as early as 2035. New research published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) predicts that expenditure from the urban worker basic pension fund will begin exceeding contributions in 2028, after which reserves will decline exponentially and could be exhausted within eight years. The government has already introduced measures to address the most pressing problems, such as the gross imbalance between regional pension funds and the failure of employers to contribute to the scheme. Impacts Younger workers will rely on their own savings and investment schemes, having little faith in the government pension. Rural residents, the self-employed and precariously employed have little or no meaningful state-backed pension. International insurers will eventually be allowed to enter China's private pension sector.

Exploring the boundaries of rhetoric

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 793-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduard Bonet
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Self ◽  
History Of Rhetoric ◽  
Content Type ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practical Development ◽  
The Subject

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the boundaries of rhetoric have excluded important theoretical and practical subjects and how these subjects are recuperated and extended since the twentieth century. Its purpose is to foster the awareness on emerging new trends of rhetoric. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on an interpretation of the history of rhetoric and on the construction of a conceptual framework of the rhetoric of judgment, which is introduced in this paper. Findings – On the subject of the extension of rhetoric from public speeches to any kinds of persuasive situations, the paper emphasizes some stimulating relationships between the theory of communication and rhetoric. On the exclusion and recuperation of the subject of rhetorical arguments, it presents the changing relationships between rhetoric and dialectics and emphasizes the role of rhetoric in scientific research. On the introduction of rhetoric of judgment and meanings it creates a conceptual framework based on a re-examination of the concept of judgment and the phenomenological foundations of the interpretative methods of social sciences by Alfred Schutz, relating them to symbolic interactionism and theories of the self. Originality/value – The study on the changing boundaries of rhetoric and the introduction of the rhetoric of judgment offers a new view on the present theoretical and practical development of rhetoric, which opens new subjects of research and new fields of applications.

Institution of Banking Pension Provisions: Preconditions, Nature, Competition with Traditional Institutions

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-55
Author(s):  
Yuriy Ezrokh
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Econometric Analysis ◽  
Traditional Institutions ◽  
State Pension ◽  
Pension Benefits

The article analyzes the pension reform implemented in Russia in 2013–2014, provides the modeling of possible pensions, determines the efficiency boundaries for the use of insurance and savings-insurance schemes offered by the Pension Fund of Russia. The author examines the activities and effectiveness in managing pension savings and reserves from non-state pension funds, especially the system of voluntary savings insurance. The study identifies the challenges faced by these financial institutions, which constrain the development of the Russian pension system. Drawing on logical and econometric analysis the author identifies the competitive opportunity for banks to participate in the Pension Benefits Act, calculates the proposals’ efficiency for future retirees and the banking system as a whole, determines the contribution of the proposed solutions to enhanced competition and more competitive banking environment.

Challenging investment decision-making in pension funds

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl-Christian Trönnberg ◽  
Sven Hemlin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Intuitive Thinking ◽  
Investment Decision Making

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of pension fund managers investment thinking when confronted with challenging investment decisions. The study focuses on the theoretical question of how dual thinking processes in experts’ investment decision-making emerge. This question has attracted interest in economic psychology but has not yet been answered. Here, it is explored in the context of pension funds.Design/methodology/approachThe sample included 22 pension fund managers. The authors explored their decision-making by applying the critical incident interview technique, which entailed collecting investment decisions that fund managers retrieved from recent memory (Flanagan, 1954). Questions concerned the investment situation, the decision-making process and the challenges and uncertainties the fund managers faced.FindingsMany of the 61 critical incidents examined concerned challenging (mostly stock) investments based on extensive analysis (e.g. reliance on external analysts for advice; analysis of massive amounts of hard company and stock market information; scrutiny of company reports and personal meetings with CEOs). However, fund managers to a high degree based their decisions on soft information judgments such as experience and qualitative judgements of teams. The authors found heuristics, intuitive thinking, biases (sunk cost effects) and social influences in investment decision-making.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is small and not randomly selected.Practical implicationsThe authors suggest anti-bias training and better acquaintance with human forecasting limitations for pension fund managers.Originality/valuePension fund managers’ investment thinking has not previously been investigated. The authors show the types of investment situations in which analytical and intuitive thinking and biases occur.

Investment apportionments among participants of PPP rental retirement villages

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-77
Author(s):  
Shijing Liu ◽  
Hongyu Jin ◽  
Chunlu Liu ◽  
Benzheng Xie ◽  
Anthony Mills
Keyword(s):  
Pension Funds ◽  
Return Rate ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Investment Allocation ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Government ◽  
Mean Variance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine public–private partnership (PPP) approaches for the construction of rental retirement villages in Australia and to allocate the investment proportions under a certain project return rate among three investors which are the government, private sectors and pension funds. The apportionment will achieve a minimum overall investment risk for the project. Design/methodology/approach Capital structure, particularly determination of investment apportionment proportions, is one of the key factors affecting the success of PPP rental retirement villages. Markowitz mean-variance model was applied to examine the investment allocations with minimum project investment risks under a certain projected return rate among the PPP partners for the construction of rental retirement villages. Findings The research findings validate the feasibility of the inclusion of pension funds in the construction of PPP rental retirement villages and demonstrate the existence of relationships between the project return rate and the investment allocation proportions. Originality/value This paper provides a quantitative approach for determination of the investment proportions among PPP partners to enrich the theory of PPP in relation to the construction of rental retirement villages. This has implications for PPP partners and can help these stakeholders make vital contributions in developing intellectual wealth in the PPP investment area while providing them with a detailed guide to decision making and negotiation in relation to investment in PPP rental retirement villages.

Competitive dynamics: Eastern roots, Western growth

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Jer Chen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Competitive Dynamics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Eastern Philosophy ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cooperative Relationships ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bridge the understanding of apparent dichotomies such as East and West, philosophy and social sciences, and antiquity and modernity, and to continue the vibrant expansion of competitive dynamics study into the realm of East-West theoretical fusion. Design/methodology/approach The author looks to classical Chinese philosophy to discover the origins and nature of competitive dynamics. The paper develops the premise that the foundational thrusts of this contemporary Western management topic spring from ancient Eastern conceptions of duality, relativity, and time. Findings Research inroads are made along two paths. First, the paper traces the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of competitive dynamics to Eastern thinking. Then by bridging what have customarily been perceived as fundamentally different paradigms, it reveals, in a new light, empirical findings in this strategy subfield. Research limitations/implications Linking Western management science, and specifically the study of competitive dynamics, to classical Eastern philosophy raises new research questions in the areas of international management and management education as well as competitive dynamics. In the latter, the paper suggests opportunities for exploring connections between traditional Chinese concepts and contemporary organizational and competition research issues, including competitive and cooperative relationships at the industry level. Future research may also investigate the fundamental differences and similarities between Eastern and Western philosophies, and their implications for competitive strategies. Originality/value From a relatively obscure corner of business academia, competitive dynamics now occupies a distinct place in strategic management research and is a topic of intense interest to scholars in a variety of disciplines. The usual view is that competitive dynamics fits squarely in the spectrum of social sciences, an organically home-grown area of Western study. This paper examines the topic from a distinctly different angle – through the lens of ancient Eastern philosophy – to discern deeper a deeper meaning and wider application.

Brazil faces stagnation risk in 2017

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Government Spending ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Fiscal Crisis ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Business Investment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government

Subject The risk that the Brazilian economy will stagnate, rather than recover, this year. Significance The recent passage of legislation freezing government spending and the ambitious pension reform currently under discussion in Congress are the flagship policies of the government of President Michel Temer. Both seek to defuse Brazil’s fiscal time bomb in the long term. However, they offer little support to immediate expansion in an economy that not only has been in recession since the second quarter of 2014 but is also locked in a low-growth trap will few apparent short-term escape routes. Impacts Popular dissatisfaction may trigger a new wave of demonstrations, further weakening the government. As long as the fiscal crisis persists, the government’s ability to stimulate the economy will be limited. Political risk will be a crucial factor in business investment decisions in Brazil.

South Africa’s PIC faces major overhaul

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Pension Fund ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Government Employees ◽  
Major Overhaul ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Black Economic ◽  
Black Economic Empowerment ◽  
The Government

Significance The PIC oversees approximately 142 billion dollars, mostly on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). While the GEPF’s assets are still comfortably greater than its liabilities, its surplus has been falling in recent years, with several questionable investments coming to light. Impacts Inquiry revelations could weaken support for government economic policies, such as prescribed assets, from traditional allies. The GEPF’s push to invest more funds overseas could have major implications for how much money the PIC manages and its future investments. The Commission's major long-term impacts could include a serious rethink of the ANC's black economic empowerment (BEE) economic policies.

scholarly journals Pension Fund: A Veritable Source of Financing Real Estate Development in Nigeria

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adjekophori Bernard
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Capital Outlay ◽  
Pension Scheme ◽  
Real Estate Development ◽  
Professional Advice ◽  
Real Estate Developers ◽  
The Government

Pension funds control relatively large amounts of capital and represent the largest institutional investors in many nations. Financing real estate on the other hand required a huge capital outlay. This study examined the viability of pension funds as an investment option in real estate development. It is empirical in approach and it adopted a survey research design. A convenient random sampling technique was used to gather data from a sample of 42 respondents comprising of 18 pension administrators and 24 Real Estate Developers and Investors. A structured questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection and a simple descriptive statistical method was use for presentation and analysis of the data. The results however reveal that both the pension administrators and the real estate developers agreed that the pension funds if well channel is a veritable means for financing real estate project. We therefore recommends amongst others that the government as a matter of urgency should slack their policy to increase the percentage of the funds for real estate development and to also advance a policy with strict guideline empowering the pension fund managers to directly grant credit to developers and real estate investors who is able to meet and comply with the conditions provided in such policy. Real estate brokers and experts should also be drafted into the pension scheme to give professional advice on the viability and feasibility of any proposed real estate development.

Prior actions passed will unlock Greek bailout cash

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Euro Area ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government

Significance This allowed the Eurogroup of euro-area finance ministers to authorise the release of 12 billion euros (12.8 billion dollars) from the latest bailout package of 86 billion -- 2 billion euros to supplement budget needs and 10 billion for bank recapitalisation. Impacts There could be more parliamentary cliff-hangers over approving implementing legislation in such areas as pension reform. The opposition may support the government on some issues, but this could undermine Tsipras's authority. Another election is possible, but might not change the political balance.

Argentina reforms advance but carry political cost

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Pension System ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Fiscal Deficit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pension Reforms ◽  
Debt Default ◽  
Political Cost ◽  
The Government

Significance Following its strong results in the October mid-term election, the government has been pressing tax and pension reforms and a new fiscal accord with provincial governors; all except the pension reform must now go to the Senate. The measures may ease investor concerns that the government’s inability to reduce the fiscal deficit could end in a new debt default. Impacts The tax reform’s effect on high tax pressure will be moderate at best. Provinces’ ability to reduce distortive taxes will depend on their ability to cut public spending. Changes to the pension system will prove especially conflictive politically.

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