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Intergenerational Risk Sharing, Stability and Optimality of Alternative Pension Systems

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Author Info
Hassler, John () (The Institute for International Economic Studies)
Lindbeck, Assar () (Th Institute for International Economic Studies and The Research Institute of Industrial Economics)

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Abstract

In an analysis of the risk-sharing properties of different types of pension systems, we show that only a fixed-fee pay-as-you go (PAYG) pension systems can provide intergenerational risk sharing for living individuals. Under some circumstances, however, other PAYG pension systems can enhance the expected welfare of all generations by reducing intergenerational income variability. We derive conditions for this to occur. We also analyze the stability of actuarially fair PAYG pension systems. It is shown that if an actuarially fair pension with a non-balanced budget system is dynamically stable, its accumulated surpluses will converge to the same fund as in a fully funded system. We also show that the welfare loss due to labor market distortions will, surprisingly, increase if the implicit marginal return in a compulsory system is raised above the average return.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Research Institute of Industrial Economics in its series Working Paper Series with number 493.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: 12 Dec 1997
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Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0493

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Postal: Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden
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Related research
Keywords: Pension systems; Pay-as-you-go; Intergenerational;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
H60 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Roger H. Gordon & Hal R. Varian, 1985. "Intergenerational Risk Sharing," NBER Working Papers 1730, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Attanasio, Orazio & Davis, Steven J, 1996. "Relative Wage Movements and the Distribution of Consumption," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1227-62, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Feldstein, Martin, 1996. "The Missing Piece in Policy Analysis: Social Security Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 1-14, May.
    Other versions:
  4. Hassler, John & Lindbeck, Assar, 1997. "Optimal actuarial fairness in pension systems: A note," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 251-255, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Paul A. Samuelson, 1958. "An Exact Consumption-Loan Model of Interest with or without the Social Contrivance of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66, pages 467. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Smith, Alasdair, 1982. "Intergenerational transfers as social insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 97-106, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Bohn, Henning, 1995. "The Sustainability of Budget Deficits in a Stochastic Economy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(1), pages 257-71, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Enders, Walter & Lapan, Harvey E, 1982. "Social Security Taxation and Intergenerational Risk Sharing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 23(3), pages 647-58, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Philippe Weil, 1992. "Dynamic Efficiency, the Riskless Rate, and Debt Ponzi Games Under Uncertainty," NBER Working Papers 3992, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Beetsma, Roel & Bovenberg, A Lans, 2007. "Pension systems, Intergenerational Risk Sharing and Inflation," CEPR Discussion Papers 6089, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Egil Matsen & Øystein Thøgersen, 2000. "Designing Social Security – A Portfolio Choice Approach," Working Paper Series 1102, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Hans-Werner Sinn, 1998. "The Pay-as-you-go Pension System as a Fertility Insurance and Enforcement Device," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Markus Knell, 2005. "On the Design of Sustainable and Fair PAYG Pension Systems When Cohort Sizes Change," Working Papers 95, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank). [Downloadable!]
  5. Beetsma, Roel / Romp, Ward E. / Vos, Siert J., 2008. "Intergenerational Risk Sharing, Pensions and Endogenous Labor Supply in General Equilibrium," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  6. Olivier Rouguet & Pierre Villa, 2000. "Le passage des retraites de la repartition a la capitalisation obligatoire : des simulations a l'aide d'une maquette calibree," Working Papers 2000-02, CEPII research center. [Downloadable!]
  7. Zamac , Jovan, 2005. "Winners and Losers from a Demographic Shock under Different Intergenerational Transfer Schemes," Working Paper Series 2005:13, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Eduardo Siandra, 1998. "Sistemas de pensiones, sus reformas y los mercados de capitales," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0299, Department of Economics - dECON. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ennio Bilancini & Massimo D'Antoni, 2008. "Pensions and Intergenerational Risk-Sharing When Relative Consumption Matters," Department of Economics University of Siena 541, Department of Economics, University of Siena. [Downloadable!]
  10. Juergen Jung, 2008. "The Timing of Redistribution," Caepr Working Papers 2008-015, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Economics Department, Indiana University Bloomington. [Downloadable!]
  11. Assar Lindbeck, 2002. "Pensions and Contemporary Socioeconomic Change," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Pension Reform in Europe, pages 19-48 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  12. Lindbeck, Assar, 2001. "Pensions and Contemporary Socioeconomic Change," Working Paper Series 548, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Pierre Villa, 2004. "Typologie et equivalence des systemes de retraites," Working Papers 2004-09, CEPII research center. [Downloadable!]
  14. Jovan Zamac, 2005. "Pension Design when Fertility Fluctuates: The Role of Capital Mobility and Education Financing," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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