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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

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  • Robert Holzmann

    (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

This policy paper summarizes four corridor studies on bilateral social security agreements (BSSAs) between four European Union (EU) member and two nonmember states, draws conclusions on their results, and offers recommendations. BSSAs between migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries are seen as the most important instrument to establish portability of social security benefits for internationally mobile workers. Yet, only about 23 % of international migrants profit from BSSAs and their functioning has been little analyzed and even less assessed. The four corridors studied (Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco) were selected to allow for comparison of both similarities and differences in experiences. The evaluation of these corridors’ BSSAs was undertaken against a methodological framework and three selected criteria: fairness for individuals, fiscal fairness for countries, and bureaucratic effectiveness for countries and migrant workers. The results suggest that the investigated BSSAs work and overall deliver reasonably well on individual fairness. The results on fiscal fairness are clouded by conceptual and empirical gaps. Bureaucratic effectiveness would profit from information and communication technology-based exchanges on both corridors once available. JEL Classification: D69, H55, I19, J62

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izaels:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40174-016-0067-0
    DOI: 10.1186/s40174-016-0067-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Martin Werding & Stuart R. McLennan, 2015. "International Portability of Health-Cost Cover: Mobility, Insurance, and Redistribution," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(2), pages 484-519.
    2. R. Holzmann & P. Dale & Florence Legros, 2015. "Assessing Benefit Portability for Migrant Workers," Post-Print hal-01507860, HAL.
    3. Lazear, Edward P, 1979. "Why Is There Mandatory Retirement?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1261-1284, December.
    4. Robert Holzmann & Johannes Koettl, 2015. "Portability of Pension, Health, and Other Social Benefits: Facts, Concepts, and Issues," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(2), pages 377-415.
    5. Alain Jousten, 2015. "The Retirement of the Migrant Labor Force: Pension Portability and Beyond," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(2), pages 416-437.
    6. United Nations (UN), 2016. "International Migration and Development," Working Papers id:11048, eSocialSciences.
    7. Bernd Genser & Robert Holzmann, 2016. "The Taxation of Internationally Portable Pensions: Fiscal Issues and Policy Options," CESifo Working Paper Series 5702, CESifo.
    8. Avato, Johanna & Koettl, Johannes & Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel, 2010. "Social Security Regimes, Global Estimates, and Good Practices: The Status of Social Protection for International Migrants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 455-466, April.
    9. Robert Holzmann & Martin Werding, 2015. "Portability of Social Benefits: Research on a Critical Topic in Globalization," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(2), pages 335-345.
    10. Holzmann, Robert & Koettl, Johannes & Chernetsky, Taras, 2005. "Portability regimes of pension and health care benefits for international migrants: an analysis of issues and good practices," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 32750, The World Bank.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mauro Testaverde & Harry Moroz & Claire H. Hollweg & Achim Schmillen, 2017. "Migrating to Opportunity," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28342, December.
    2. Robert Holzmann, 2018. "The portability of social benefits across borders," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 452-452, October.
    3. Giulia Bettin & Eralba Cela & Tineke Fokkema, 2018. "Return intentions over the life course: Evidence on the effects of life events from a longitudinal sample of first- and second-generation Turkish migrants in Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(38), pages 1009-1038.
    4. Holzmann, Robert & Wels, Jacques, 2018. "Status and Progress in Cross-Border Portability of Social Security Benefits," IZA Discussion Papers 11481, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Robert Holzmann & Jacques Wels, 2020. "The cross‐border portability of social security benefits: Status and progress?," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(1), pages 65-97, January.
    6. Perna, Roberta & Cruz-Martínez, Gibrán & Moreno Fuentes, Francisco Javier, 2022. "Patient mobility within national borders. Drivers and politics of cross-border healthcare agreements in the Spanish decentralized system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(11), pages 1187-1193.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Acquired rights; Labor mobility; Migration corridor; Administration; Evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D69 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Other
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I19 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Other
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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