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Portability of Pension, Health, and other Social Benefits: Facts, Concepts, and Issues

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  • Robert Holzmann
  • Johannes Koettl

Abstract

Portability of social benefits across professions and countries is an increasing concern for individuals and policy makers. Lacking or incomplete transfers of acquired social rights are feared to negatively impact individual labor market decisions as well as capacity to address social risks with consequences for economic and social outcomes. The paper gives a fresh and provocative look on the international perspective of the topic that has so far been dominated by social policy lawyers working within the framework of bilateral agreements; the input by economists has been very limited. It offers an analytical framework for portability analysis that suggests separating the risk pooling, (implicit or actual) pre-funding, and redistributive elements in the benefit design, and explores the proposed alternative approach for pensions and health care benefits. This promising approach may serve both as a substitute and complement to bi- and multilateral agreements.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Holzmann & Johannes Koettl, 2012. "Portability of Pension, Health, and other Social Benefits: Facts, Concepts, and Issues," CESifo Working Paper Series 4002, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4002
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    Cited by:

    1. Omar S. Arias & Carolina Sánchez-Páramo & María E. Dávalos & Indhira Santos & Erwin R. Tiongson & Carola Gruen & Natasha de Andrade Falcão & Gady Saiovici & Cesar A. Cancho, 2014. "Back to Work : Growing with Jobs in Europe and Central Asia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 16570, December.
    2. Robalino, David & Margolis, David & Rother, Friederike & Newhouse, David & Lundberg, Mattias, 2013. "Youth employment : a human development agenda for the next decade," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 83925, The World Bank.
    3. Adriana Florina Popa & Stefania Amalia Jimon & Delia David & Daniela Nicoleta Sahlian, 2021. "Influence of Fiscal Policies and Labor Market Characteristics on Sustainable Social Insurance Budgets—Empirical Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, May.
    4. Fabrizio Balassone & Sandro Momigliano & Marzia Romanelli & Pietro Tommasino, 2018. "Just Round the Corner? Pros, Cons, and Implementation Issues of a Fiscal Union for the Euro Area," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 5-34.
    5. Holzmann, Robert, 2015. "Old-Age Financial Protection in Malaysia: Challenges and Options," IZA Policy Papers 96, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Robert Holzmann, 2016. "Taxing Pensions of an Internationally Mobile Labor Force: Portability Issues and Taxation Options," CESifo Working Paper Series 5715, CESifo.
    7. Robert Holzmann, 2016. "Do bilateral social security agreements deliver on the portability of pensions and health care benefits? A summary policy paper on four migration corridors between EU and non-EU member states," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-35, December.
    8. Bernd Genser, 2018. "A Viable International Tax-Order for Cross-Border Pensions," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2018-02, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    9. Christian Dustmann & Giovanni Facchini & Cora Signorotto, 2015. "Population, Migration, Ageing and Health: A Survey," Discussion Papers 2015-17, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    10. Maurizio Bussolo & Johannes Koettl & Emily Sinnott, 2015. "Golden Aging," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 22018, December.
    11. BALTEȘ Nicolae & JIMON Ștefania Amalia, 2020. "Study Regarding The Effects Of Demographic Transition On Labor Market And Public Pension System In Central And Eastern Europe," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 15(1), pages 158-170, April.
    12. Bernd Genser & Robert Holzmann, 2019. "National Pension Policy and Globalization: A New Approach to Strive for Efficient Portability and Equitable Taxation," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2019-04, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    13. Holzmann, Robert, 2014. "Old-age financial protection in Malaysia : challenges and options," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 92725, The World Bank.
    14. Rafal Chomik & John Piggott, 2015. "Population Ageing and Social Security in Asia," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 199-222, July.
    15. Fauziah ZEN & Mukul G. ASHER, 2015. "Social Protection in ASEAN: Challenges and Initiatives for Post-2015 Vision," Working Papers DP-2015-06, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    16. Robert Holzmann, 2018. "The portability of social benefits across borders," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 452-452, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    acquired rights; labor mobility; migration; individual accounts; bi-lateral agreements;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D69 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Other

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