Financing Retirement: The Private Sector

Since 1980, there has been a rapid shift from employerbased, defined benefit pensions to employee-controlled personal retirement accounts. This paper documents the shift and explores the conventional wisdom that this shift increases risk for retirees and will result in lower accumulation of retirement assets. In particular, it focuses on personal retirement accounts and considers the options available for retirees to contain risk and assess the likely outcomes over alternative options, including life cycle allocations. It concludes that personal retirement accounts are likely to lead to higher retirement accumulations that are also less risky than would be the case under defined benefit plans. JEL Classification G23     

美国401（K）计划与IRA运作机制研究

IRA和401（k）计划分别是美国第二大和第一大退休储蓄账户。其中，401（k）计划由于其缴费和税收延付特点，已经为越来越多的美国大中型公司采用；而IRA由于其税收优惠和操作简单，越来越多的家庭和个人利用其进行退休储蓄。401（k）计划和IRA作为长期资金供给者在美国共同基金和资本市场发展中发挥了巨大的促进作用。     

Assessing the patronage behaviour of the retired male: a comparison with chronological age

Although age 65 has traditionally been used to delineate the onset of old age, there are serious problems with the ability of chronological age to predict retail-related behaviour. Retirement is suggested as an alternative indicator that not only offers reliability but also provides theoretical support. A survey was mailed to 1,000 males asking a number of patronage-related questions identified in the retail literature. Analysis of covariance allowed comparison of the predictive capability of retirement versus chronological age, controlling for income, marital status, and health. The results suggest that retirement is a better predictor in respect to a number of patronage behaviours. Managerial implications are discussed.     

养老保障制度改革的若干问题

改革退休制度为养老保险制度是社会保险法的规定,也是现行政策。在由退休制度改为养老保险制度的进程中,存在一些疑惑,需要沟通交流,消除误解,形成共识。以"职工+居民"为制度框架,建立公平可持续的养老保障体系,人人享有适度的养老保障待遇,是改革的长期目标。     

如何发挥企业离退休干部作用问题研究

随着我国企业离退休干部工作的不断发展,离退休干部工作领域发生了深刻的变化,面临着许多新问题和新情况,如何让离退休干部既安度晚年,又让他们余热生辉,这将是企业离退休干部工作者面临的艰巨任务。     

THE NATIONALISATION OF RETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS IN ARGENTINA

In October 2008, the government of Argentina announced that the citizens' privately owned retirement savings accounts (RSAs) would be nationalised. This article shows that contrary to the Kirchner government's assertions, the private savings system had great potential. Its performance may not have fully lived up to its initial expectations, but that was largely due to the adverse effects of underdeveloped securities markets, large informal sectors impeding widespread participation, intrusive investment regulation and poor implementation. Within its tight constraints, the private system worked better than the public PAYGO system.     

SOCIAL SECURITY AND RETIREMENT DECISION: A POSITIVE AND NORMATIVE APPROACH*

Abstract Social insurance for the elderly is judged responsible for the widely observed trend towards early retirement. In a world of laissez‐faire or in a first‐best setting, there would be no such trend. However, when first‐best instruments are not available, because health and productivity are not observable, the optimal social insurance policy may imply a distortion on the retirement decision. The main point we make is that while there is no doubt that retirement systems induce an excessive bias towards early retirement in many countries, a complete elimination of this bias (i.e. a switch to an actuarially fair system) is not the right answer for two reasons. First, some distortions are second‐best optimal. This is the normative argument. Second, and on the positive side, the elimination of the bias might be problematic from a political perspective. Depending on the political process, either it may not be feasible or alternatively it may tend to undermine the political support for the pension system itself.     

机遇和挑战——论中国和平发展的国际环境

观察中国的国际环境、国际地位和发展机遇的切入点有六个事件：我国成功举办奥运会，标志着中国作为一个大国崛起的象征；我国成功应对金融危机，展现出“赶日超美”的势头；亚丁湾护航和利比亚撤侨事件，标志着中国有全球利益需要保护；20国集团取代8国集团，标志着以中国为首的新兴经济体被推到全球治理中心；钓鱼岛事件和关国航母进入南中国海和黄海，引起中国强烈反应。我国的国际环境处在“机遇空前”、“挑战空前”，机遇永远大于挑战的时代，面对复杂的局面，我们的对策是韬光养晦，有所作为。在今后一段长时期内，我国会经历“成长的孤独”和“成长的烦恼”时期，我们要坚持邓小平同志“在体制内成长”的决择，实现和平崛起的战略目标。     

养老保险制度中关于退休年龄的探讨

运用社会学及经济学原理,分析了世界各国法定退休年龄提高的趋势及中国当前法定退休年龄存在的问题,提出为适应劳动力结构的变化及缓解养老金的支出,新世纪20年代前后中国变革法定退休年龄的思考和建议.     

公共经济学的新贡献——2009年度克拉克奖获得者伊曼纽尔·塞斯的学术贡献

本文从伊曼纽尔·塞斯(Emmanuel Saez)的学术生平出发,简要地概括了其出道以来在学术上的主要贡献:(1)最优化税收理论,主要包括最优税收、最优转移支付计划和已婚夫妇的税收问题.(2)收入分布的测度,主要是对美国和其他21个国家的收入分布进行测度,分析收入分布的演化,这被学术界认为是一项了不起的成就.(3)税收的行为反应,塞斯测度了边际税率的变化对应税收入的影响,在测度其关键参数应税收入弹性上做了大量的研究,评估了所得税体系造成的行为反应.(4)退休计划,塞斯分析了雇员导向型退休计划参与者的行为,开创性地研究了雇员在退休储蓄存款计划的参与和投资决策中,同群效应是否起着重要作用.