In this paper, we assess whether the stock market downturn can be an opportunity for Defined Contribution pension plan members to reinforce their risky assets exposure? In line with the framework developed by Kojein et al. (Manag Sci 55(7):1199–1213, 2009), we consider a DC plan investor,...

How to de ne the most appropriate institutional framework that could encourage to better plan retirement? The French population used to consider that the PAYG public pension system should finance pensions. The pension system being based on an insurance principle and intergenerational risk...

The American pension funds system reinforces the sensibility of the American economy to financial markets fluctuations. Market risk is supported by companies as concerns defined benefits funds (DB) and by households as regards defined contributions plans (DC). DC funds are often over-invested in...

The success of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or the Zone Franche in Madagascar is, with the exception of Mauritius, an isolated and unrecognized case in Africa. The Zone Franche has had a highly significant macroeconomic impact in terms of exports and jobs. Madagascar became the number two...

Demographic and economic trends are forcing European governments to reform their pension systems. Contributions to pension schemes have been raised and eligibility criteria for a full pension tightened. People who retire in the years to come will have experienced less uniform careers....

The aim of this article is to analyse the question of career interruptions and to evaluate their impact on pension retirement for French private sector workers. Using the last French survey on households' wealth (2003-2004), we first study the career set-backs for individuals born between 1937...

The purpose of this article is to analyse the efficiency of the repayment incentive mechanisms used for individual microcredit, the guarantor mechanism in particular. Little academic research has been devoted to this instrument whereas it is very frequently used. Churchill (1999) notably...

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the informal sector is a major engine for employment, entrepreneurship and growth. The high incidence of corruption is another distinctive feature of SSA. According to the last Transparency International Corruption Perception Index almost 70% of SSA countries ranked...