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Public Pension Programs in Southeast Asia: An Assessment

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  • Mukul Asher
  • Azad S. Bali

Abstract

type="main"> This paper assesses public pension programs in select Southeast Asian economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – henceforth referred to as the SEA6) and the key issues facing them. The criteria used in assessing pension systems are the philosophy of pension design, the extent of coverage, investment policies and performance, and administrative and compliance costs. The paper argues that three broad reform directions to strengthen public pensions merit consideration. The first direction is to enhance the professionalism of the existing provident and pension fund organizations, including their governance practices. The second direction is to strengthen the role of noncontributory budget-financed pensions (e.g. social pensions). The third is to adopt a systemic perspective to pension reform that includes reforms in complementary areas (labor markets, public financial management practices, and the civil service); developing a financing-mix of pensions; and lastly, improving effective coverage by exploring complementarities between health care and pension programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Mukul Asher & Azad S. Bali, 2015. "Public Pension Programs in Southeast Asia: An Assessment," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 225-245, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiapr:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:225-245
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/aepr.12100
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Victor R. Fuchs, 2018. "The New Demographic Transition: Most Gains in Life Expectancy Now Realized Late in Life," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Health Economics and Policy Selected Writings by Victor Fuchs, chapter 32, pages 379-401, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. James W. Vaupel, 2010. "Biodemography of human ageing," Nature, Nature, vol. 464(7288), pages 536-542, March.
    3. Sojo, Ana, 2014. "The Chilean system of contributory pensions as locus of rivalry and of a new social compact," Políticas Sociales 37293, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    4. Barr, Nicholas & Diamond, Peter, 2008. "Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195311303.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sallahuddin Hassan & Zalila Othman, 2018. "Forecasting on the long-term sustainability of the employees provident fund in Malaysia via the Box-Jenkins’ ARIMA model," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(1), pages 43-53, January.
    2. Dayashankar Maurya & Altaf Virani & S. Rajasulochana, 2017. "Horses for Courses: Moving India towards Universal Health Coverage through Targeted Policy Design," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 733-744, December.
    3. Takatoshi Ito & Kazumasa Iwata & Colin McKenzie & Shujiro Urata, 2015. "Social Security in Ageing Asia: Editors' Overview," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 179-198, July.
    4. Cuenca, Janet S., 2016. "Social Protection in APEC: In Pursuit of Inclusive Growth," Research Paper Series DP 2016-03, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    5. Jaafar, Roslan & Daly, Kevin James & Mishra, Anil V., 2019. "Challenges facing Malaysia pension scheme in an era of ageing population," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 334-340.
    6. Jansson & M. & Trönnberg & C-C. & Hemlin & S., 2018. "The occurrence and importance of pension fund managers’ investment beliefs A web survey and critical incident study," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(4), pages 1-1.
    7. Cuenca, Janet S., 2016. "Social Protection in APEC: In Pursuit of Inclusive Growth," Discussion Papers DP 2016-03, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    8. Paskalis Seran & Usil Sis Sucahyo & Apriani Dorkas Rambu Atahau & Supramono Supramono, 2023. "The Efficiency of Indonesian Pension Funds: A Two-Stage Additive Network DEA Approach," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, February.
    9. Marcus Noland, 2015. "Comment on “Public Pension Programs in Southeast Asia: An Assessment”," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 246-247, July.
    10. Nurin Haniah Asmuni & Ken Seng Tan & Sachi Purcal, 2022. "The Impact of Health Impairment on Optimal Annuitization for Retirees," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Pascalis Seran & Usil Sis Sucahyo & Apriani Dorkas Rambu Atahau & Supramono Supramono, 2022. "Investigating the Efficiency of Indonesian Employee Pension Funds," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 25(83), pages 74-87, June.
    12. Jia, Hongbo, 2017. "An evaluation of pension differentials between Chinese private and public sectors from perspective of protection and incentives over the lifecycle," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 16-29.

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