Across the world, pension systems and their reforms are in a constant state of flux driven by shifting objectives, moving reform needs, and a changing enabling environment. The ongoing worldwide financial crisis and the adjustment to an uncertain 'new normal' will make future pension systems...

This study investigates the performance of private pensions systems across countries a topic which has yet to be adequately addressed in the literature. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between pension fund performance (as captured by gross real rates of return and the three...

One of the responses to new challenges in the labor market has been the development and expansion of employment services and active labor market policies based on activation principles. The objective of this study is to document and review international experiences, predominantly from selected...

This paper presents and explains cross country data for mandatory publicly and privately managed pension systems around the world. This report is organized into three parts corresponding to three broad types of indicators. These indicators relate to: (i) the relevant contextual factors referred...

This document presents an analysis of pension coverage trends in Latin America for the past decades. Its preparation involved the collection, revision, and processing of household surveys in over 18 countries in the region, spanning a period of almost 40 years in some cases. The main goal of...

This paper presents an assessment of the first phase (2008?2009) of Sierra Leone's cash for work program based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis examining program design features, main processes and impact. The assessment highlights that while cash for work was an appropriate crisis...

Social benefits can potentially play an important role in protecting the poor and minimizing the impacts of an economic crisis. While many studies estimate the impacts of a crisis, there is little evidence of the actual response of social safety nets to systematic shocks. This study traces the...

Mass media and social marketing programs are cheap, scalable, and potentially effective means of influencing consumers' financial behavior and decisions. In light of this potential, and in order to provide clear policy direction, this paper provides an overview of the existing and ongoing...

This study evaluates European Union (EU) experience of the mobility of skilled labor migrants after the 2004 and 2007 EU enlargements and from the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) countries. The study concludes that migration generally improves the allocated efficiency of labor markets and...

Fostering entrepreneurship is widely perceived to be a critical policy agenda to expand employment and earning opportunities and to reduce poverty. Sound macroeconomic conditions and business environment including infrastructure, regulation, and legal environment have typically been emphasized...