The coverage of pension systems in the Africa region is limited to the small segment of the population in the formal sector. Coverage is thin partly because traditional contributory pension schemes are not responding to the needs of the informal sector. As a result, a large share of the region's...

The authors explore the effects of decentralization on education and health in Ethiopia using an original database covering all of the country's regions and woredas (local governments). Ethiopia is a remarkable case in which war, famine and chaos in the 1970s-1980s were followed by...

The debate on if and how to connect humanitarian assistance for refugees with national social protection systems can elicit polarizing views. Hence, it is not unusual to observe country-level approaches getting somewhat 'stuck' - especially where refugees represent a sizable share of the...

Disruptive factors related to technology, market integration, and social and demographic change imply upcoming changes in the needs of the labor force. This study reviews the current approach to active labor market policies (ALMPs) globally and, based on the evidence and accounting for these...

Sweden's reform began with a published sketch in 1992 and developed into nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) legislation in 1994. This paper discusses the underpinnings of the Swedish NDC scheme's financial stability, factors influencing the adequacy of benefits, and its interplay with other...

Latvia introduced a nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) scheme in 1996 as it transitioned to a market economy. Despite a 20 percent decline in the working-age population from 1994-2016, the ratio of contributors to old-age pensioners rose from 1.6 to 2.1 given a steady increase in formal...

Starting from a reconstruction of the political context in which the Italian 1995 pension reform took shape, this paper reviews the essential features of the 1995 and post-1995 legislation and assesses its fundamental shortcomings. A straightforward theoretical discussion highlights both the...

Poland's pension system faces multiple challenges, including accelerating population aging. Early retirement policy aimed at mitigating mass exit from the labor market led to the rise of pension system economic dependency. Transition to a nonfinancial and financial defined contribution (NDC plus...

In the last 30 years the Italian pension system was repeatedly reformed and counter-reformed, increasing uncertainty about future pensions. A low level of financial literacy exacerbated this problem. In 2015, the Italian Social Security Institute (INPS) launched a project to allow all insured...

Nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) pension schemes have been successfully implemented since the mid-1990s in a number of European countries. The NDC approach features the lifelong contribution-benefit link of a financial defined contribution scheme, but is based on the pay-as-you-go format....