The impact of early retirement reform on firms’ employment adjustment

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

What is the best accounting policy for gains and losses in pensions?

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Retirement behavior of the elderly in Europe: The importance of being healthy

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Determinants of social security pensions expenditure in Portugal

In most European countries Social Security (SS) systems are characterized as Pay-asyou- go systems. Their sustainability is being challenged with demographic changes, namely population ageing. Portugal’s population is ageing rapidly being one of the countries where this problem is more critical. With the growing debate on this topic several public choice models have been developed so as to explain SS size. In this work project there is an attempt to understand whether these models contribute to better explain Social security expenditure with pensions (SSEP) and to establish the need of finding ways to reduce present commitment with pension expenditure in Portugal.

Some Implications Of Capping The Inflation Indexation Of USS Pensions

On 1 October 2011 the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) substantially reduced the pension entitlements of its members. The most onerous of the changes is the cap placed on the indexation of pensions where in the event of high inflation the cap will quickly lower the real value of the pension. This paper quantifies the impact of the inflation cap and high inflation on the real value of the member’s pension and the concomitant impact on the USS and universities.

Spanish pension system: population aging and immigration policy

There is a widespread consensus in the literature that, as consequence of the demographic transition, the current Spanish pension system will become unsustainable in the next decades. In this article we evaluate the sustainability of the contributory pensions' sub-system, taking into account the demographic projections by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE). A baseline scenario is projected as well as several reforms are simulated, focusing on: (i) selective immigration policy, (ii) changes in the way of setting the pensions and (iii) increase of the legal age of retirement up to 68. The main results are the following. The current system would not incur deficits until 2018, from then deficits will begin to be accumulated. The expenditure in pensions practically would double (from 8.3 % in 2005 to 17.2 % in 2050). A selective immigration policy -towards foreign young people- would help, but does not solve the long-term sustainability of the current system. A policy that combines a pensions' growth at a pace lower than productivity growth and extends the legal age of retirement up to 68 would give solvency to the system beyond 2029

Health care utilization among immigrants and native-born populations in 11 European countries. Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Objective: This study examines health care utilization of immigrants relative to the native-born populations aged 50 years and older in eleven European countries. Methods. We analyzed data from the Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 2004 for a sample of 27,444 individuals in 11 European countries. Negative Binomial regression was conducted to examine the difference in number of doctor visits, visits to General Practitioners (GPs), and hospital stays between immigrants and the native-born individuals. Results: We find evidence those immigrants above age 50 use health services on average more than the native-born populations with the same characteristics. Our models show immigrants have between 6% and 27% more expected visits to the doctor, GP or hospital stays when compared to native-born populations in a number of European countries. Discussion: Elderly immigrant populations might be using health services more intensively due to cultural reasons.

És sostenible el nostre sistema de pensions?

En el document es discuteix l’afirmació estàndard sobre que el sistema de pensions de jubilació públiques a Espanya –i, per extensió, els sistemes públics europeus- no és financerament viable. Es mostra perquè la pròpia interrogació retòrica que recull el títol és de fet una pregunta mal formulada (oblida coses essencials). I es posa de manifest que un sistema de pensions de jubilació privat –com els dels fons de pensions de les entitats financeres- sols és viable per a una minoria de la població: la de rendes més elevades

Prediction of the economic cost of individual long-term care in the Spanish population

Pensions together with savings and investments during active life are key elements of retirement planning. Motivation for personal choices about the standard of living, bequest and the replacement ratio of pension with respect to last salary income must be considered. This research contributes to the financial planning by helping to quantify long-term care economic needs. We estimate life expectancy from retirement age onwards. The economic cost of care per unit of service is linked to the expected time of needed care and the intensity of required services. The expected individual cost of long-term care from an onset of dependence is estimated separately for men and women. Assumptions on the mortality of the dependent people compared to the general population are introduced. Parameters defining eligibility for various forms of coverage by the universal public social care of the welfare system are addressed. The impact of the intensity of social services on individual predictions is assessed, and a partial coverage by standard private insurance products is also explored. Data were collected by the Spanish Institute of Statistics in two surveys conducted on the general Spanish population in 1999 and in 2008. Official mortality records and life table trends were used to create realistic scenarios for longevity. We find empirical evidence that the public long-term care system in Spain effectively mitigates the risk of incurring huge lifetime costs. We also find that the most vulnerable categories are citizens with moderate disabilities that do not qualify to obtain public social care support. In the Spanish case, the trends between 1999 and 2008 need to be further explored.

Les pensions compensatòries de l'article 84 del Codi de família de Catalunya: proposta per la seva determinació i estudi dels seus efectes pels cònjugues deutor i creditor

El present projecte pretén representar una aproximació complerta a l'estudi de la pensió compensatòria regulada a l'article 84 del Codi de Família. Aquesta aproximació s'ha fet des de dos punts de vista diferents: d'una banda, a través de la definició d'un marc teòric relatiu al context normatiu de la pensió compensatòria, a la seva determinació, pagament i potencial modificació i d'altra banda, un punt de vista més aplicat a través de l'estudi de la jurisprudència del Tribunal Superior de Justícia de Catalunya que ha interpretat i aplicat l'article 84 del Codi de Família en seu de crisis matrimonials. Els principals resultats d'aquesta recerca fan referència essencialment a incorporar les noves tendències socials, familiars i econòmiques, d'una banda, definir la naturalesa de la pensió compensatòria i de l'altra, determinar la quantitat, modificació i modalitat de pagament de la pensió compensatòria. Des del punt de vista de la naturalesa d'aquesta pensió, aquesta va néixer amb l'objectiu de protegir les dones que principalment eren les que duien a terme el treball domèstic i per tant sortien més perjudicades patrimonialment en els moments de crisi matrimonial. Tot i que avui dia la gran majoria de pensions compensatòries encara són pagades pels marits, cal adaptar la nova realitat social de les dones i per tant de les famílies a la concepció i rol que la pensió compensatòria té en el moments de crisis matrimonials. D'altra banda, el nou rol dels cònjuges en la família i la simetria – encara no completa, però – d'homes i dones al mercat laboral fa que aquest treball de recerca defensi que la determinació, modificació i modalitat de pagament de la pensió compensatòria s'hagi de fer tenint en compte les possibilitats professionals que els cònjuges tenien abans de contraure matrimoni per tal de poder valorar acuradament les decisions que han pres i les possibilitats a les quals han renunciat per tal d'invertir a la vida familiar.

The effect of retirement on cognitive functioning

Cognitive impairment has emerged as a major driver of disability in old age, with profound effects on individual well-being and decision making at older ages. In the light of policies aimed at postponing retirement ages, an important question is whether continued labour supply helps to maintain high levels of cognition at older ages. We use data of older men from the US Health and Retirement Study to estimate the effect of continued labour market participation at older ages on later-life cognition. As retirement itself is likely to depend on cognitive functioning and may thus be endogenous, we use offers of early retirement windows as instruments for retirement in econometric models for later-life cognitive functioning. These offers of early retirement are legally required to be nondiscriminatory and thus, inter alia, unrelated to cognitive functioning. At the same time, these offers of early retirement options are significant predictors of retirement. Although the simple ordinary least squares estimates show a negative relationship between retirement duration and various measures of cognitive functioning, instrumental variable estimates suggest that these associations may not be causal effects. Specifically, we find no clear relationship between retirement duration and later-life cognition for white-collar workers and, if anything, a positive relationship for blue-collar workers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Employment & Retirement Among the Over 55s - Conference Proceedings

The Conference provided the opportunity for delegates to focus attention on issues of employment and retirement among older Irish people, issues such as preferences for work or retirement and barriers to staying in or returning to the workplace. It also afforded the opportunity to look at initiatives at the European level as well as recent developments in Ireland in relation to age discrimination, pension provision and lifelong learning initiatives Download the Report here

Older People's Preferences for Employment and Retirement Study

The research provides for the first time a national representative quantitative review of the experiences and preferences of older people in relation to employment and retirement. The research allows a wide range of men andwomen, between the ages of 55 and 69 years from a variety of backgrounds and employment status, to offer their perspectives on work and retirement and their preferences for participation and non-participation in the labour force Download the Report here

Subjective health assessments and active labor market participation of older men: evidence from a semiparametric binary choice model with nonadditive correlated individual-specific effects

We use panel data from the U. S. Health and Retirement Study, 1992-2002, to estimate the effect of self-assessed health limitations on the active labor market participation of older men. Self-assessments of health are likely to be endogenous to labor supply due to justification bias and individual-specific heterogeneity in subjective evaluations. We address both concerns. We propose a semiparametric binary choice procedure that incorporates nonadditive correlated individual-specific effects. Our estimation strategy identifies and estimates the average partial effects of health and functioning on labor market participation. The results indicate that poor health plays a major role in labor market exit decisions.

Iowa Public Employee Retirement System Agency Performance Plan

Agency Performance Plan