What is the most cost-effective way to organize individual accounts that are part of a mandatory social security system? Defined-contribution individual account components of social security systems are criticized for being too expensive. The authors investigate the cost-effectiveness of two...

Most countries reforming their pension system, focus more on the accumulation phase, than on the decumulation (pay-out), because the number of beneficiaries is likely to be small initially, especially if older workers are discouraged from joining the new system. Policymakers place a priority on...

Pension reforms normally focus on the accumulation phase, plus term insurance that provides bnefits for the disabled and for dependent survivors, all of which are immediate concerns. Decumulation of the capital in workers' retirement savings accounts appears to be far in the future. But in the...

Pension systems may have a different impact on gender because women are less likely than men to work in formal labor markets and earn lower wages when they do. Recent multipillar pension reforms tighten the link between payroll contributions and benefits, leading critics to argue that they will...

If China implements a partially funded multipillar pension system, that reform must go hand-in-hand with reform of the financial sector and restructured investment procedures that emphasize the right mix of competition, diversification, and regulation. Otherwise, pension reform will ultimately...

The pension reforms being undertaken in Latin America seem to be improving efficiency and growth, but they should also be designed to improve equity. It is possible for pension reform to improve both equity and efficiency - producing a win-win situation rather than a tradeoff.In the past decade,...