Who cares about the day after tomorrow? Pension issues when households are myopic or time inconsistent

Pension economics has traditionally guided pension policy with the help of formal models based on individuals who think in a life‐cycle context with perfect foresight, full information, and in a time‐consistent manner. Associated macro models were mostly based on a single country. This paper sheds light on several aspects of pension economics when these assumptions do not hold using—to our knowledge—the first multi‐country model of procrastinating households. Our focus is on the interaction between the share of procrastinators in a country, the speed and extent of population aging, and the size of an existing PAYG‐DB pension system. Starting from the insight that procrastination reduces the volume of savings, we focus on three questions that are particularly relevant for the quickly aging Asian economies: What are the consequences for the balance between pay‐as‐you‐go and fully funded pension systems? Where will retirement savings be invested in a globally linked world with very different pension systems and demographics? How large are global spillover effects of pension reforms in one region for the other regions in the world?     

Pension Reform and Economic Performance Under Imperfect Capital Markets

We consider an overlapping generations model where heterogeneous agents take decisions on consumption and investment in education under the assumption of imperfect capital markets. We study how the introduction of a pay-as-you-go and of a fully funded pension scheme affects output and lifetime opportunities, and then analyse the impact of a pension reform. The standard neutrality result for fully funded pension schemes does not hold in this framework. We establish the conditions under which a fully funded scheme is associated with a higher investment in human capital. We show that the transition path may involve poverty traps     

我国最优混合养老保险体制的选择:收益和风险分析

养老金研究的核心问题之一在于选择合适的养老金计划运行方式。文章基于中国实际,通过引入随机性的"权衡理论"模型分析发现,在代表性参保人效用最大化前提下,运行方式选择类似于金融资产组合问题。所谓的艾隆条件只是在确定性模型下的特定结果。在加入风险因素后,即便在艾隆条件下,引入一定的积累制也将改善养老金体系的运行状况。两种制度最优的混合比例将受到人口增长率、工资增长率、个人风险规避倾向和金融市场因素的共同影响。分析结果表明提高养老金计划运行收益率和养老基金分散化投资有利于增进参保人效用。     

Intergenerational Risk Sharing,Pensions, and Endogenous Labour Supply in General Equilibrium*

We show that a two‐tier pension system, with a pay‐as‐you‐go first tier and a fully funded, defined wage‐indexed second tier, can provide for optimal intergenerational risk‐sharing without distorting the labour supply, thereby achieving the first best. Other arrangements with a fully‐funded second tier fail to achieve the first best.     

Pension Reform, Capital Markets and the Rate of Return

Abstract. This paper discusses the consequences of population aging and a fundamental pension reform – that is, a shift towards more pre‐funding – for capital markets in Germany. We use a stylized closed‐economy, overlapping‐generations model to compare the effects of the recent German pension reform with those of a more decisive reform that would freeze the current pay‐as‐you‐go contribution rate and thus result in a larger funded component of the pension system. We predict rates of return to capital under both reform scenarios over a long horizon, taking demographic projections as given. Our main finding is that the future decrease in the rate of return is much smaller than often claimed in the public debate. Our simulations show that the capital stock will decrease once the baby‐boom generations enter retirement, even if there were no fundamental pension reform. The corresponding decrease in the rate of return, the direct effect of population aging, is around 0.7 percentage points. While the capital market effects of the recent German pension reform are marginal, the rate of return to capital would decrease by an additional 0.5 percentage points under the more decisive reform proposal.     

不同生育率情形下养老保险筹资模式比较研究

理论研究普遍认为,基金制养老保险筹资模式优于现收现付制,但这几乎都是基于人均资本视角的判断。本文在外生和内生生育率两种情形下,从福利经济学视角分析基金制是否完全优于现收现付制。理论模型表明,在一定参数组合下,无论外生生育率还是内生生育率,都存在使现收现付制下社会福利高于基金制下社会福利的养老保险缴费率。模型的数值模拟显示,存在使现收现付制下社会福利更高的养老保险缴费率,且在外生生育率下（符合我国生育政策）现收现付制缴费率在12%左右社会福利最高,内生生育率下（符合发达国家生育政策）现收现付制缴费率在6%左右社会福利最高。前一数值与已有研究成果观点相近(我国社会统筹部分缴费率应下降到15%左右),后一数值与美国（62%）、日本（77%）等发达国家现收现付制养老保险缴费率相近。稳健性检验显示,只要参数赋值在合理范围内,数值模拟主要结论不变。本文为降低现行我国社会统筹部分养老保险缴费率提供了理论借鉴。     

Policy effects on transitional welfare in an overlapping generations model: A pay-as-you-go pension reconsidered

We study the welfare effects of a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension system in transition, as well as in the steady state, by showing how the total welfare effects are determined by a cumulative effect on capital. Theoretical studies have shown that the introduction of a PAYG pension system reduces steady-state welfare under dynamic efficiency. Nevertheless, such pension systems have been widely adopted in the real world. To explain this, we algebraically and graphically prove that the PAYG pension system could be Pareto-improving in transition under dynamic efficiency. Similarly, it is acknowledged that this pension system should be introduced under dynamic inefficiency because it improves steady-state welfare. However, we show that the PAYG pension system may be Pareto-deteriorating in transition. Our findings imply that governments adopt PAYG pension systems to achieve policy targets other than long-run welfare maximization.     

The future of pensions in Europe

Unfunded state pension schemes are projected to become financially unsustainable. This is usually attributed to demographic trends. Yet trends in unemployment and in female labour force participation are quantitatively as important. Improvements in either or both might be sufficient to rescue existing state schemes, especially if combined with an end to the practice of allowing, even after retirement, the value of a pension to rise with national earnings rather than prices.
Attempts at piecemeal reform are important because nothing in economic theory suggests a switch to the alternative, fully funded pensions is desirable. Not only would such a transition be costly, and therefore politically difficult; it also neglects the fact that it makes sense to diversify the retirement portfolio, holding claims both on labour productivity and on capital assets. One can even view pensions as part of a more sophisticated system of intergenerational transfers through which workers finance their earlier education and subsequent retirement.     

Additionality of public R&D grants in a transition economy

This paper examines the input and output additionality of public R&D subsidies in Western and Eastern Germany. We estimate the impact of public R&D grants on firms’ R&D and innovation input. Based on the results of this first step we compare the impact of publicly funded private R&D on innovation output with the output effect of R&D funded out of firms’ own pockets. We employ microeconometric evaluation methods using firm‐level data derived from the Mannheim Innovation Panel. Our results point towards a large degree of additionality in public R&D grants with regard to innovation input measured as R&D expenditures and innovation expenditures, as well as with regard to innovation output measured by patent applications. Input additionality has been more pronounced in Eastern Germany during the transition period than in Western Germany. However, R&D productivity is still larger for the established Western German innovation system than for Eastern Germany. Hence, a regional redistribution of public R&D subsidies might improve the overall innovation output of the German economy.     

Shifting from pay-as-you-go to individual retirement accounts: A path to a sustainable pension system

With aging demographics and generous pension programs, the sustainability of the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) public pension system has been often questioned and has motivated policymakers to enact reforms in many countries. Although mandatory funded Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) appear to be a solution to this unsustainable system, existing reforms usually take place within the PAYG system by reducing pension benefits. This paper evaluates the effects of PAYG reforms as well as reforms that switch to the IRA system. Our analysis shows that PAYG reforms outperform IRA reforms in many aspects. In fact, PAYG reforms achieve higher GDP and yield higher welfare in the long run. The transition to the steady state is also found to be less volatile for PAYG reforms. While PAYG generally places a larger burden on future generations, the positive welfare effect of cross-subsidization dominates the welfare loss. Our findings may explain why pension reform is a controversial issue in most countries and why we rarely observe a shift to the IRA system.     

Social Security Systems,Human Capital,and Growth in a Small Open Economy

We consider a small open economy in which the level of public education funding is determined by popular vote. We show that growth can be enhanced by the introduction of pay‐as‐you‐go pensions even if the growth rate of aggregate wages falls short of the interest rate. The reason is that the pay‐as‐you‐go (PAYG) system allows future retirees to partially internalize positive externalities of public education due to the positive effect of higher future labor productivity on their pension benefits. The majority support for education funding will be especially strong when the PAYG benefit formula is flat, i.e., progressively redistributive. If a flat benefit PAYG pension system is in place then the economy will achieve the highest growth rate relative to the alternative pension system designs. While such PAYG pension system may be opposed by the majority of working individuals due to inferior returns to their pension contributions relative to a funded scheme, it is likely to be politically sustained by a coalition of older individuals and lower income workers.     

OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS, WAGES, AND JOB MOBILITY IN GERMANY

Pension‐covered workers in Germany are three times less likely to change jobs than workers not covered by an occupational pension scheme. This paper examines the effects of occupational pension coverage and pension portability loss on voluntary job changes using a sample selection model with endogenous switching. The model estimates, derived from western German panel data for 1985–1998, indicate that occupational pension coverage reduces worker mobility by imposing a capital loss on those leaving their job before retirement age. Moreover, pension‐covered workers receive a higher compensation, which discourages mobility. Making pensions portable increases mobility, but from a low initial level.     

CHANGING PENSION POLICY AND THE AGING OF AMERICA

The recently enacted Tax Reform Act of 1986 contains a number of pension policy provisions including faster vesting for private-sector, single-employer pension plans and imposing tax penalties on preretirement pension plan distributions that are not saved until retirement age. Since pensions are a long-term commitment, the impact of pension policy changes may not be fully realized for a number of years. For that reason, the effects of the Tax Reform Act's pension provisions are investigated using both short-run and long-run simulation models. Faster vesting would immediately entitle an additional 1.9 million pension plan participants to pension benefits at retirement. This increase would not, however, be translated directly into significant gains in pension recipiency for workers currently in their 50s. Nevertheless, by the time the baby boom generation retires, faster vesting and lump-sum penalties could provide more retirees with pensions and increase the standard of living of pension recipients.     

Privatizing Social Security

This paper studies the political sustainability of the existing pay-as-you-go Social Security system in the face of recent demographic patterns. We analyze different approaches to privatizing the system and consider what it would require for them to be politically implementable. The analysis is based on an overlapping-generations economy where an initial generation would choose to implement a pay-as-you-go social insurance system. We study the sustainability of this system in each subsequent period. We describe some transition policies that make the current generations of agents at least as well off as the maintenance of the Social Security system. All feasible transition policies use debt to finance the benefits during the transition period, shifting at least some of the cost to unborn generations.     

Pension reforms and saving gains in the United Kingdom

The empirical validity of the effect of pension reforms on domestic savings in the UK has been investigated using an Auto‐regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model capable of testing for the existence of a long‐run relationship regardless of whether the underlying time series are individually I(1) or I(0). The total savings response to change in pension savings is positive and significant, but an increase in occupational pension saving appears offset by a decrease in other forms of saving. This paper concludes that there is no firm evidence that aggregate savings increase considerably because of privately funded pension schemes.     

The German Savings Puzzle

Germany has one of the most generous public pension and health insurance systems of the world, yet private savings are high and remain positive until old age, even for most low income households. How can we explain what we might want to term the “German savings puzzle”? We provide a complicated answer that combines historical facts with capital market imperfections, housing, tax and pension policies. The first part of the paper describes how German households save, based on a synthetic panel of four cross sections of the German Income and Expenditure Survey (“Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichproben”) collected between 1978 and 1993. The second part links saving behaviour with public policy, notably tax and pension policy.     

Risk sharing and transition costs in the reform of pension systems in Europe

Unfunded pay-as-you-go state pension schemes are financially unsustainable in Europe as elsewhere. Proponents of reform argue that, by switching to a fully funded scheme that takes advantage of the high return on assets such as equities, the solvency of the state scheme could be restored at little or no financial burden to current taxpayers. We show that this is mistaken for two reasons.
First, making the transition is itself costly. Unless this cost is substantially financed by debt, it will fall on current generations, who are therefore likely to oppose the reform. Second, potentially higher returns are accompanied by significantly higher risk, which we quantify. We explain how an insurance scheme could be designed to mitigate both risk and moral hazard.     

The Joint Distribution of Net Worth and Pension Wealth in Germany

The research on wealth inequality has generally focused on real and financial assets, while giving little attention to pension wealth: the present value of future pension entitlements from public and company pension schemes. This is surprising given the important role pension plans play in guaranteeing material security and well‐being for a majority of the population, and suggests that they should be accounted for in peoples’ wealth portfolios. Using novel data from the Socio‐Economic Panel (SOEP), we study the incidence, relevance, and distribution of individual pension wealth, net worth, and augmented wealth (the sum of the two) in Germany. Further, we investigate age‐wealth profiles and differences between East and West Germany.     

不同养老保障机制与家庭储蓄率——基于世代交叠模型的实证研究

目前,我国的养老保障机制采用以社会养老保险为基础的多渠道养老保险机制,家庭成员赡养、个人金融投资和养老保险就成为了三种主要方式。这一结论已经得到了学术界的广泛认可,然而我国不同养老渠道之间的比例和关系尚缺乏实证研究。家庭自主的金融资产投资、家庭成员之间的赡养效果还没有得到充分的检验。文章基于2008年和2009年的中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,首次运用2005年政策调整后的数据进行实证研究,对我国养老金财富、个人金融投资以及家庭成员赡养率之间的关系进行了分析研究。文章根据传统的世代交叠模型,针对现有数据,建立了一个三期世代交叠模型,然后分析了不同渠道养老保险收入对家庭储蓄率的影响。研究结果表明,基本养老金财富与个人金融投资对非退休人群的储蓄有显著的负向影响,退休者的储蓄率主要受家庭成员赡养影响,并且呈负相关的关系。     

The Effect of Benefit Reductions on the Retirement Age: The Heterogeneous Response of Manual and Non‐Manual Workers

I estimate the effect of benefit reductions on the timing of retirement. The introduction of actuarial adjustments in the German public pension system serves as a source of exogenous variation to estimate discrete time transition rates into retirement for individuals of age 60–66. Responses to benefit reductions are elaborated separately for manual and non‐manual workers. On average, individuals postpone retirement by 13.2 months if pension benefits are reduced by 3.6 percent for each year of early retirement. This result is in line with the previous quasi‐experimental literature and suggests that people respond to the incentive of reducing the implicit tax on further periods of work. However, among men the response is about 50 percent lower for manual workers compared to non‐manual workers. Surprisingly, this does not necessarily indicate that retirement incomes of manual workers deteriorate. The explanation is that disability pensions are available at age 63—without benefit reductions.