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Financing Retirement in the European Union

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  • Lans Bovenberg

Abstract

This paper explores how EU countries can address various challenges (including the aging of the population) affecting their systems of old-age income support. It presents two scenarios illustrating the most important uncertainties surrounding the major developments that affect the pension systems of the EU. To diversify these risks, EU governments should act on several fronts. In addition to the formation of human capital (especially that of children), employment (especially that of older workers) should be boosted. This calls for social insurance reform with more emphasis on individual saving schemes. Pension schemes should be more explicit about how they share demographic and other risks. Countries that currently rely heavily on public pay-as-you-go (PAYG) schemes should stimulate private pensions by gradually reducing PAYG benefits collected by high-income earners, by issuing new financial instruments, and by conducting intergenerational risk sharing through the tax system.

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  • Lans Bovenberg, 2002. "Financing Retirement in the European Union," CESifo Working Paper Series 643, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_643
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Isilda Mara & Edlira Narazani, 2011. "Labour-incentive reforms at preretirement age in Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 38(4), pages 481-510, November.
    3. Christian Jaag & Christian Keuschnigg & Mirela Keuschnigg, 2010. "Pension reform, retirement, and life-cycle unemployment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(5), pages 556-585, October.
    4. Yvonne Adema & Lex Meijdam & Harrie Verbon, 2009. "The international spillover effects of pension reform," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(5), pages 670-696, October.
    5. Walter Fisher & Christian Keuschnigg, 2010. "Pension reform and labor market incentives," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 769-803, March.
    6. Mustafa Besim & Glenn Jenkins, 2005. "Tax compliance: when do employees behave like the self-employed?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1201-1208.
    7. Koen Caminada & Kees Goudswaard, 2008. "Revenue Effects of Tax Facilities for Pension Savings," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 36(2), pages 233-246, June.
    8. Partha Sen, 2023. "Social security reform and welfare in a two sector model," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 74(2), pages 233-249, April.
    9. Christian Keuschnigg & Mirela Keuschnigg & Christian Jaag, 2011. "Aging and the Financing of Social Security in Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 147(II), pages 181-231, June.
    10. Christian Keuschnigg, 2016. "Aging, Taxes and Pensions in Switzerland," CESifo Working Paper Series 5714, CESifo.
    11. José Luis Iparraguirre, 2020. "Economics and Ageing," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-29019-1, December.
    12. Zhen Hu & James Yang, 2021. "Does Delayed Retirement Crowd Out Workforce Welfare? Evidence in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    13. Jeongseok Song & Doojin Ryu, 2018. "Aging effects on consumption risk-sharing channels in European countries," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 36(2), pages 585-617.
    14. Keuschnigg, Christian & Fisher, Walter, 2011. "Life-Cycle Unemployment, Retirement and Parametric Pension Reform," Economics Working Paper Series 1119, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    15. Caminada, Koen & Goudswaard, Kees, 2005. "Budgetary costs of tax facilities for pension savings: an empirical analysis," MPRA Paper 20735, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Christian Keuschnigg & Mirela Keuschnigg, 2004. "Aging, Labor Markets, and Pension Reform in Austria," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 60(3), pages 359-392, September.

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