Ann-Charlotte Ståhlberg

Pension design and gender

Pension systems and their reforms may have a different impact on men and women because of their different employment histories and demographic characteristics. This paper examines the design of pension systems from a gender perspective. We describe the features of systems and analyse their expected effects on incentives, pension benefits and income distribution for men and women. Empirical results show estimates of the outcomes for men and women in the new Swedish pension system.

Unequal Public Transfers to the Elderly in Different Countries – Equal Disposable Incomes

This article compares public transfers to the elderly and their disposable income in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the U.K. The public transfer income of retirees depends on the particular administrative arrangements in the different countries. The organisation of public pensions varies widely, and yet there is similarity in the overall income situation of older people. Low compensation from the public system is largely made up for by high payments from other systems of compensation, while high compensation from the public system is complemented by other systems of compensation to a lesser extent. It is important to note that this does not mean that the different public pension solutions have the same effect on the distribution of income. The effects of pension systems on income distribution cannot be determined without taking into account what individuals have to pay for their pensions in the form of lower earnings during their active working life. Contributions to the pension system generally mean correspondingly lower cash wages and the design of the pension system affects the size of incomes indirectly by means of its impact on e.g. the labour supply and educational choices. In this article we discuss the direct distributive effects by comparing the relation between the contributions made by individuals and the benefits they receive in different systems and countries. It emerges that the public pension systems in Denmark, the Netherlands and the U.K. redistribute income from higher to lower earners, that the public pension system in Germany does not redistribute income, while the direct redistributive effects of the Swedish, Finnish, French and Norwegian public pension systems are ambiguous and can only be determined through empirical studies.

Pension Rights and Wages

This paper highlights public and negotiated pension rights in a total wage concept. Individual annual pension rights are calculated in order to analyse what the inclusion of pension rights in total wage could mean for wage differentials and wage dispersion. Copyright Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998.