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The Chilean Pension Reform: A Pioneering Program

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Sebastian Edwards

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Abstract

In the mid-1970s Chile initiated a deep market-oriented reform program aimed at opening up the economy, privatizing state owned enterprises and stabilizing the macroeconomy. In the 1980s Chile began to grow at increasingly rapid rates -- between 1986 and 1995 the average rate of growth bordered 7% --, becoming a star performer. Perhaps one of the most admired aspects of the Chilean program has been the reform of the pension system, which replaced an inefficient pay-as-you-go system with a privately administered defined contribution one. " This reform has been credited with helping develop Chile's capital market, with reducing government contingent liabilities and with helping boost Chile's traditionally anemic savings rate. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the most salient aspects of the Chilean program and to evaluate its achievements to date. The paper provides a brief background of the Chilean reforms effort and deals with Chile's old pay-as-you-go system, including its degree of (in)efficiency, its distributive characteristics and its fiscal consequences. The functioning of the new privately managed system is discussed in detail, and the system's results up to date are evaluated. I also discuss transitional issues, including the fiscal consequences of the reforms. Finally, the analysis also deals with the reforms effects on labor markets and savings.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 5811.

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Date of creation: Nov 1996
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5811

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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. Vittas, Dimitri & Iglesias, Augusto, 1992. "The rationale and performance of personal pension plans in Chile," Policy Research Working Paper Series 867, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Peter Diamond, 2004. "Social Security," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 1-24, March. [Downloadable!]
  3. Felipe G. Morandé, 1996. "Savings in Chile: What Went Right?," RES Working Papers 4030, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. McGreevey, W., 1990. "Social security in Latin America: issues and options for World Bank," World Bank - Discussion Papers 110, World Bank.
  5. Ping-Lung Hsin & Olivia S. Mitchell, . "The Political Economy of Public Pensions: Pension Funding, Governance, and Fiscal Stress," Pension Research Council Working Papers 94-6, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  6. Salvador Valdés, 1994. "Cargos por Administración en los Sistemas de Pensiones de Chile, los Estados Unidos, Malasia y Zambia," Cuadernos de Economía (Latin American Journal of Economics), Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 31(93), pages 185-228. [Downloadable!]
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(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. John B. Williamson, 2002. "Privatizing Public Pension Systems: Lessons For The United States From Latin America," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 1999-03, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Mauricio Soto, 2005. "Chilean Pension Reform: the Good, the Bad, and the In Between," Issues in Brief ib31, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Andrew A. Samwick, 1997. "Discount Rate Heterogeneity and Social Security Reform," NBER Working Papers 6219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. John B. Williamson, 2002. "Social Security Privatization: Lessons From The United Kingdom," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2000-10, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
  5. Casey B. Mulligan & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1999. "Gerontocracy, Retirement, and Social Security," Economics Working Papers 383, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Sebastian Edwards & Alejandra Cox Edwards, 2000. "Economic Reforms and Labor Markets: Policy Issues and Lessons from Chile," NBER Working Papers 7646, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Peter Diamond, 1998. "The Economics of Social Security Reform," NBER Working Papers 6719, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Joshua Aizenman, 1998. "Privatization in Emerging Markets," NBER Working Papers 6524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Jonathan A. Parker, 2006. "Taxes and Growth in a Financially Underdeveloped Country: Evidence from the Chilean Investment Boom," NBER Working Papers 12104, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Olivia S. Mitchell & Flavio Ataliba Barreto, 1997. "After Chile, What? Second-Round Pension Reforms in Latin America," NBER Working Papers 6316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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