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Compiling the actuarial balance for pay-as-you-go pension systems. Is it better to use the hidden asset or the contribution asset?

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  • Carlos Vidal-Meliá
  • Mar𨁤el Carmen Boado-Penas

Abstract

The aim of this article is twofold: to establish the connection between the ‘Contribution Asset’ (CA) and the ‘Hidden Asset’ (HA) and to determine whether using either of them to compile the Actuarial Balance (AB) sheet in the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) pension system will provide a reliable solvency indicator. With these aims in mind, we develop a model based on those first put forward by Settergren and Mikula (2005) and Boado-Penas et al . (2008) to obtain the analytical properties of the CA and to confirm its soundness as a measure of the assets of a PAYG scheme. Our model also enables us to explore whether, and to what extent, the HA can be considered a second alternative measure of the assets for PAYG schemes. The main theoretical finding is that, despite their very different natures, the HA and the CA may nearly coincide at the limit when the interest rate of the financial market approaches the growth of the covered wage bill from above, but the HA supplies a solvency indicator which is not always consistent with the system's financial health.

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  • Carlos Vidal-Meliá & Mar𨁤el Carmen Boado-Penas, 2013. "Compiling the actuarial balance for pay-as-you-go pension systems. Is it better to use the hidden asset or the contribution asset?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(10), pages 1303-1320, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:45:y:2013:i:10:p:1303-1320
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2011.615733
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    1. Carlos Vidal-Meliá & Manuel Ventura-Marco & Juan Manuel Pérez-Salamero González, 2018. "Social Insurance Accounting for a Notional Defined Contribution Scheme Combining Retirement and Long-Term Care Benefits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-36, August.
    2. Metzger, Christoph, 2016. "The German statutory pension scheme: Balance sheet, cross-sectional internal rates of return and implicit tax rates," FZG Discussion Papers 63, University of Freiburg, Research Center for Generational Contracts (FZG).
    3. Carlos Vidal-Meliá & María del Carmen Boado-Penas & Francisco Navarro-Cabo, 2016. "Notional defined contribution pension schemes: why does only Sweden distribute the survivor dividend?," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 200-220, July.
    4. Stefan Fetzer & Stefan Moog, 2021. "Indicators for Measuring Intergenerational Fairness of Social Security Systems—The Case of the German Social Health Insurance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Metzger, Christoph, 2016. "Accounting of pay-as-you-go pension schemes using accrued-to-date liabilities: An example for Switzerland," FZG Discussion Papers 59, University of Freiburg, Research Center for Generational Contracts (FZG).
    6. Boado-Penas & Carlos Vidal-Meli�, 2014. "Nonfinancial defined contribution pension schemes: is a survivor dividend necessary to make the system balanced?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 242-247, March.
    7. Alonso-García, J. & Devolder, P., 2016. "Optimal mix between pay-as-you-go and funding for DC pension schemes in an overlapping generations model," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 224-236.
    8. Alonso-García, Jennifer & Devolder, Pierre, 2019. "Continuous time model for notional defined contribution pension schemes: Liquidity and solvency," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 57-76.

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