The Retirement of the Migrant Labor Force: Pension Portability and Beyond

The specificities of the workforce with a migrant background are often neglected in studies of retirement. Similarly, many studies of migration¡¯s impact on pensions often focus on aggregate outcomes ¨C system sustainability or distributive characteristics. The present paper provides a fresh look at the nexus between these two literatures. It discusses the impact of the European social security coordination mechanisms on individual decision©\making and on the functioning of social security systems ¨C with a focus on retirement. The paper argues that such effects are non©\negligible and are likely to have major policy consequences.