Pensions and Population Ageing: An Economic Analysis

by John Creedy

Overview

Population ageing is an important trend which will be experienced in industrialized countries in the early years of the next century. This significant book examines aspects of population ageing and pensions, with an emphasis on the design and use of simple economic models to focus on particular aspects of a very broad problem.

The analysis of pensions presents many complex problems. A major aim of this book is to demonstrate how reasonably simple economic models can be designed and used to shed some light on the issues involved in population growth and pension provision. The basic analytics of population growth and pension structure are first explored. Projections for Australia are examined and used to model ageing and social expenditure and to estimate the 'burden' of aged care on future workers. The author goes on to investigate pensions and pension finance, and examines several types of economic model before turning to the analysis of alternative pension arrangements using a lifetime simulation model. The results of the study suggest that both lower contribution rates and a universal pension encourage a later retirement age.

This book will prove invaluable to students and scholars of public sector economics, welfare economics, social economics and public finance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781858988023
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	04/25/1998
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

John Creedy, Wellington School of Business and Government, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Table of Contents

Contents: Part I: Introduction 1. Introduction and Outline Part II: Ageing and Social Expenditure 2. Population Ageing and Social Expenditure 3. Social Expenditure Projections 4. Migration and Population Ageing Part III: Economic Models and Pensions 5. Policy Trade-offs and Pension Systems 6. Private versus Public Pensions 7. Pensions and Contracting Out 8. Two-tier State Pensions 9. Pensions and Compensating Variations Part IV: Lifetime Simulations 10. Alternative Pension Systems 11. Modelling Retirement Decisions 12. The Choice of Early Retirement Age Index

Editorial Reviews

'. . . the book adds considerable value in providing simple economic models and numerical examples to illuminate the complexities of pensions and population ageing.'

John Piggott

'This book might have been published ten years ago, but we are reviewing it in this edition because it is even more relevant now than it was then. . . Given the importance of pensions in relation to social welfare, employment incentives, savings incentives, tax rates, and much else, it really is essential that the work of the Pensions Commission continues, and equally essential that this book is on its members' reading list.'

Citizen's Income

Demonstrates how reasonably simple economic models can be designed and used to shed some light on the issues involved in population growth and pension provision. The author explores basic analytics of population growth and pension structure; uses projections for Australia to estimate the burden of aged care on future workers; investigates pensions and pension finance; examines several types of economic models; and analyzes alternative pension arrangements using a lifetime simulation model. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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