Learn from thy neighbor: Emulation and learning in Eastern European mandatory private pensions reforms

2018 ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragos Adascalitei
Keyword(s):  
Eastern European ◽  
Private Pensions

The development of private pensions in Serbia: caught between a generic blueprint and an unconducive local environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola Altiparmakov ◽  
Gordana Matković
Keyword(s):  
Local Environment ◽  
Private Pension ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Regional Trends ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Market Coverage

Serbia is one of the rare eastern European countries that decisively dismissed the controversial pension privatisation agenda whereby mandatory private pension funds would be introduced to (partially) replace existing public pay-as-you-go (PAYG) benefits. Instead, Serbia opted for a more traditional western European approach, combining PAYG cost-containment parametric reforms with the introduction of tax-preferred supplementary private pensions. We explain that the desire for equitable intergenerational burden-sharing was one of the key factors behind the decision-making process that made Serbia diverge from regional trends and World Bank orthodoxy. Nonetheless, problems that have plagued mandatory private funds in neighbouring countries, such as excessive operating costs and undiversified portfolios, have also been prevalent in the Serbian voluntary private pension fund industry, which failed to achieve tangible labour market coverage and whose survival has been due mostly to exclusive tax privileges.

Testing the Assumptions concerning the Effects of the German Pension Reform Based on Latin American and Eastern European Outcomes

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmelo Mesa-Lago ◽  
Eva Maria Hohnerlein
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Social Reforms ◽  
Pension Reforms ◽  
Investment Returns ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Pension Contribution

The pension reform, approved in Germany in 2001, and implemented on January 1, 2002, has been described by the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Walter Riester, as ‘one of the greatest social reforms this country has seen’ (Federal Ministry, 2002a) and it has prompted considerable discussion and publications. This article analyses key assumptions on the effects of the German reform in the light of two decades of experience with structural pension reforms (‘privatisation’) in Latin America. This region has pioneered this type of reform and has influenced both the international debate and changes in other regions such as Eastern Europe. The article has four objectives: (1) to elaborate a taxonomy of old-age structural pension reforms in the world and place Germany's within it; (2) to identify and analyse crucial assumptions related to the effects of the German reform (incentives for affiliation, competition and administrative costs, impact on the level of pensions, sustainability of the public pension contribution ceiling, and effects on national saving, fiscal costs, the capital market and investment returns); (3) to contrast those German assumptions that are similar to their counterparts in Latin America with data collected on real outcomes from the pension reforms in several countries of that region and, to a lesser extent, from a few Eastern European countries (the two regions combined embrace more than 80 million insured persons in private pensions); and (4) to summarise our findings and draw some useful lessons. Economic, social security and other differences between Germany and the countries compared will be taken into account in the analysis.

Pragmatic Language Performance of Children Adopted Internationally

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 501-514
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich ◽  
Hisako Matsuo
Keyword(s):  
Social Communication ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Emotion Identification ◽  
False Belief Understanding ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Pragmatic Communication ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Purpose Pragmatic language is important for social communication across all settings. Children adopted internationally (CAI) may be at risk of poorer pragmatic language because of adverse early care, delayed adopted language development, and less ability to inhibit. The purpose of this study was to compare pragmatic language performance of CAI from Asian and Eastern European countries with a nonadopted group of children who were of the same age and from similar socioeconomic backgrounds as well as explore the relationship among emotion identification, false belief understanding, and inhibition variables with pragmatic language performance. Method Using a quasi-experimental design, 35 four-year-old CAI (20 Asian, 15 Eastern European) and 33 children who were not adopted were included in this study. The children's pragmatic language, general language, and social communication (emotion identification of facial expressions, false belief understanding, inhibition) were measured. Comparisons by region of origin and adoption experience were completed. We conducted split-half correlation analyses and entered significant correlation variables into simple and backward regression models. Results Pragmatic language performance differed by adoption experience. The adopted and nonadopted groups demonstrated different correlation patterns. Language performance explained most of the pragmatic language variance. Discussion Because CAI perform less well than their nonadopted peers on pragmatic communication measures and different variables are related to their pragmatic performance, speech-language pathologists may need to adapt assessment and intervention practices for this population.

European Integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann P. Arnason
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Totalitarian Regimes ◽  
The Eu

Different understandings of European integration, its background and present problems are represented in this book, but they share an emphasis on historical processes, geopolitical dynamics and regional diversity. The introduction surveys approaches to the question of European continuities and discontinuities, before going on to an overview of chapters. The following three contributions deal with long-term perspectives, including the question of Europe as a civilisational entity, the civilisational crisis of the twentieth century, marked by wars and totalitarian regimes, and a comparison of the European Union with the Habsburg Empire, with particular emphasis on similar crisis symptoms. The next three chapters discuss various aspects and contexts of the present crisis. Reflections on the Brexit controversy throw light on a longer history of intra-Union rivalry, enduring disputes and changing external conditions. An analysis of efforts to strengthen the EU’s legal and constitutional framework, and of resistances to them, highlights the unfinished agenda of integration. A closer look at the much-disputed Islamic presence in Europe suggests that an interdependent radicalization of Islamism and the European extreme right is a major factor in current political developments. Three concluding chapters adopt specific regional perspectives. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, are following a path that leads to conflicts with dominant orientations of the EU, but this also raises questions about Europe’s future. The record of Scandinavian policies in relation to Europe exemplifies more general problems faced by peripheral regions. Finally, growing dissonances and divergences within the EU may strengthen the case for Eurasian perspectives.

Comparative Study of Highly Pathogenic Avian Infl uenza Strains Isolated in Ukraine in 2005 and 2008

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-71
Author(s):  
A. Gerilovych ◽  
B. Stegniy ◽  
A. Stegniy ◽  
M. Stegniy ◽  
K. Smietanka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Rna Extraction ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Molecular Characteristics ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
Genetic Lineages ◽  
Phylogenetic Studies ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Pathogenic H5n1

Objective. To research the molecular characteristics of two HPAI strains – A/Ch/Syvash/02/05/H5N1 and A/Ch/Krasnogvardeysk/58/08/H5N1, which were identifi ed as representatives of the highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses. Methods. RNA extraction, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results. The phylogenetic studies revealed that the above mentioned strains belong to two various genetic lineages originated from the Eastern European strains isolated in 2005, but differ from the viruses introduced to the Central and Western Europe in 2005/2006, and also the lineages consisting of H5N1 viruses isolated in the Europe and Middle East in late 2007. Conclusions. Relying on experimental studies, it can be concluded that the strains of A/Ch/Syvash/02/05/H5N1 and A/Ch/Krasnogvardeysk/58/08/H5N1 are highly pathogenic.

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