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What is the Role of Social Pensions in Asia?

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  • Barrientos, Armando

    (Asian Development Bank Institute)

Abstract

Rapid population ageing and economic transformation in Asia raise the policy challenge of ensuring income security in old age. The main objective of this paper is to explore the potential role of social pensions and other noncontributory schemes in Asia, informed by insights from theory and international experience. The paper identifies alternative forms of providing income security in old age, including social pensions. It also examines the welfare effects of adopting alternative social pension designs, especially around two key policy nodes: the comparative advantages of social assistance and social pensions, and the integration of noncontributory transfers within advanced contributory pension schemes.

Suggested Citation

  • Barrientos, Armando, 2012. "What is the Role of Social Pensions in Asia?," ADBI Working Papers 351, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0351
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Wendy Hunter, 2016. "Formalizing safety nets and the requirements to obtain them: An increased role for identity documents in the Global South," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-112, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. World Bank, 2016. "Republic of the Philippines Review of the Social Security System," World Bank Publications - Reports 24671, The World Bank Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social pensions; population ageing; asia; social assistance; noncontributory transfers; contributory pension schemes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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