The Varieties of Pension Governance: Pension Privatization in Europe

The ongoing privatization of pensions - the shift from state to private responsibility for old age retirement income - raises fundamental issues of social and participatory rights. The recent financial market crisis makes the problematic nature of funded private pensions that fall short of expected returns dramatically clear. What have been the experiences in developed multipillar systems? What can be learned for those pensions systems currently under reform? This edited book compares the varieties of pension governance in ten European countries. Contrasting the experience of developed multipillar systems such as Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland with the recent shift toward private occupational and personal pensions in Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. The country chapters investigate how and why old age income responsibilities are being shifted to employers, unions, and individuals. They describe the changing public and private pension mix, and describe the particular features of the private occupational and personal pensions. In particular this book discusses four major questions: who is covered, what kind of benefits, who pays, and who governs? Three comparative analyses provide an additional value, describing the long-term institutional change from public to multipillar pension systems, the variations in regulation and governance of private pensions, and the consequences for income inequality in old age. This book combines the benefits of a reference work - ten up-to-date country studies of major pension systems in Europe - with three cross-national comparative empirical analyses that provide comprehensive information on important aspects of the reform development, societal governance, and social outcomes of pension systems. Contributors to this volume - Karen Anderson, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Institute for Management Research, Radboud University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Giuliano Bonoli, Professor at Institut de hautes etudes en administration publique (IDHEAP) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Paul Bridgen, Senior Lecturer at the School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Johan De Deken, Lecturer at Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Amsterdam , the Netherlands. Bernhard Ebbinghaus, Professor of Sociology at the School of Social Sciences, and Director of the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany. Jorgen Goul Andersen, Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Mareike Gronwald, Researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany. Silja Hausermann, Researcher and Lecturer (Oberassistentin) at the Department of Political Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Matteo Jessoula, Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Political Studies, University of Milan, Italy. Olli Kangas, Professor and Head of the Research Department of the Social Insurance Institution (KELA) in Helsinki, Finland. Gabriella Sjogren Lindquist, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Stockholm and Deputy Director of the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) ) in Stockholm, Sweden. Paivi Luna, Research and Development Manager at the Federation of Finnish Financial Services in Helsinki, Finland. Traute Meyer, Reader at the School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Marek Naczyk, DPhil candidate at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Jorg Neugschwender, Researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences (GESS), University of Mannheim, Germany. Bruno Palier, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Political Research (CEVIPOF), Sciences Po, Paris, France. Eskil Wadensjo, Professor of Economics at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) in Stockholm, Sweden. Tobias Wiss, Researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany.