Declining public pensions in an era ofdemographic ageing:will private provision fill the gap?

Demographic crisis and imprudent commitments have induced a crisis in publicpension programmes in OECD countries. Will present and prospective cutbacks leadto greater private saving, either in the form of private pension provision or in otherforms of saving? The paper surveys existing evidence, and provides new results onthree questions: Do individuals substitute private for public provision of savings whenpublic pension programmes are cut back ‘voluntarily’? Do individuals respond toincentives to join sponsored or tax subsidised arrangements if encouraged by thegovernment? And, if individuals are prepared to make such arrangement...