IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/zeswps/012004.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Path dependence and path departure: Analysing the first decade of post-communist pension policy in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic

Author

Listed:
  • Grimmeisen, Simone

Abstract

Analysing the first decade of post-communist pension policy in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, we find an interesting policy pattern: while the Czech government has implemented a pension reform characterised by gradual and partially parametric policy changes, Hungarian and Polish policymakers have enacted a far-reaching reform of their countries' old age security systems, involving a transformation of the previous one-pillar system into a multipillar system based on a substantial fully-funded element. Taking up the neo-institutionalist literature, which conceives pension policy as 'locus classicus' for path-dependent policy development, the central analytical question arising is why Hungary and Poland on the one hand and the Czech Republic on the other took so different reform paths during the 90s - despite the fact that all three countries were characterised by rather similar pension systems under communist rule. By referring to the theoretical framework provided by the multiple streams approach of John W. Kingdon, the paper develops an explanatory argument which focuses on the role of the World Bank in the agenda-setting/pre-decision phase of the pension reform processes throughout the three Visegrád countries. In a nutshell, the paper argues that the rapidly increasing problem pressure within the Hungarian and Polish pension system during the mid-90s finally opened a policy window for a far-reaching pension reform, which allowed the policy entrepreneur World Bank to couple its elaborated country-specific pension proposals to both the respective problem and policy streams. In the Czech Republic, in contrast, the crucial policy window did not open.

Suggested Citation

  • Grimmeisen, Simone, 2004. "Path dependence and path departure: Analysing the first decade of post-communist pension policy in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic," Working papers of the ZeS 01/2004, University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zeswps:012004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/41544/1/559125437.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gora, Marek & Rutkowski, Michal, 1998. "The quest for pension reform : Poland's security through diversity," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20111, The World Bank.
    2. Vylitova, Marketa, 2002. "Old-Age Pension System and Its Place in the Czech Welfare State," Discussion Paper 62, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    3. World Bank, 2001. "Czech Republic : Enhancing the Prospects for Growth with Fiscal Stability," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13864, April.
    4. World Bank, 2001. "Czech Republic : Enhancing the Prospects for Growth with Fiscal Stability," World Bank Publications - Reports 15690, The World Bank Group.
    5. Mario I. Blejer & Fabrizio Coricelli, 1995. "The Making Of Economic Reform In Eastern Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 72.
    6. Maria Lodahl & Mechthild Schrooten, 1998. "Renten im Transformationsprozeß: zur Lage in Polen, Ungarn, Tschechien und der Slowakei," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 158, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Schludi, Martin, 2001. "The politics of pensions in European social insurance countries," MPIfG Discussion Paper 01/11, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    8. Bonoli,Giuliano, 2000. "The Politics of Pension Reform," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521776066, Enero-Abr.
    9. Chlon, Agnieszka & Gora, Marek & Rutkowski, Michal, 1999. "Shaping pension reform in Poland : security through diversity," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20852, The World Bank.
    10. Monika Queisser, 2000. "Pension Reform and International Organizations: From Conflict to Convergence," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 31-45, April.
    11. Dani Rodrik, 1996. "Understanding Economic Policy Reform," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 9-41, March.
    12. Palacios, Robert & Rocha, Roberto, 1998. "The Hungarian pension system in transition," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20048, The World Bank.
    13. Bonoli,Giuliano, 2000. "The Politics of Pension Reform," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521772327, Enero-Abr.
    14. Zahariadis, Nikolaos, 1992. "To Sell or Not to Sell? Telecommunications Policy in Britain and France," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 355-376, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wehlau, Diana & Sommer, Jörg, 2004. "Pension policies after EU enlargement: Between financial market integration and sustainability of public finances," Working papers of the ZeS 10/2004, University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard Hinz & Robert Holzmann, 2005. "Old Age Income Support in the 21st century: An International Perspective on Pension Systems and Reform," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7336, April.
    2. Antón Pérez, José Ignacio, 2006. "The Reform of the Pension Systems in Easterm Europe and these Impact about the Efficiency and Equity/La reforma de los sistemas de pensiones en Europa del Este y su impacto sobre la eficiencia y la eq," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 24, pages 643(20á)-64, Agosto.
    3. Stefan Traub & Tim Krieger, 2009. "Wie hat sich die intragenerationale Umverteilung in der staatlichen Säule des Rentensystems verändert? Ein internationaler Vergleich auf Basis von LIS-Daten," LIS Working papers 520, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Disney, Richard & Whitehouse, Edward, 1999. "Pension plans and retirement incentives," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20851, The World Bank.
    5. Srinivas, P.S. & Whitehouse, Edward & Yermo, Juan, 2000. "Regulating private pension funds’ structure, performance and investments: cross-country evidence," MPRA Paper 14753, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Richard Disney & Robert Palacios & Edward Whitehouse, 1999. "Individual choice of pension arrangement as a pension reform strategy," IFS Working Papers W99/18, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Marion Ellison & Vittorio Sergi & Nicola Giannelli, 2017. "An In-Depth Analysis of the Relationship Between Policy Making Processes, Forms of Governance and the Impact of selected Labour Market Innovations in twelve European Labour Market Settings," Working Papers 1701, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2017.
    8. Laurent Bouton & Alessandro Lizzeri & Nicola Persico, 2020. "The Political Economy of Debt and Entitlements," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(6), pages 2568-2599.
    9. Heinz Rudolph & Roberto Rocha, 2007. "Competition and Performance in the Polish Second Pillar," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6775, April.
    10. Gauri, Varun & Vawda, Ayesha, 2003. "Vouchers for basic education in developing countries : a principal-agent perspective," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3005, The World Bank.
    11. M. Dudek Carolyn & Pieter Omtzigt, 2001. "Globalization's challenge to pension reform in Western Europe," Economics and Quantitative Methods qf0107, Department of Economics, University of Insubria.
    12. Pierson, Paul, 2011. "The welfare state over the very long run," Working papers of the ZeS 02/2011, University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS).
    13. World Bank, 2004. "Kazakhstan - The New Pensions in Kazakhstan : Challenges in Making the Transition," World Bank Publications - Reports 14362, The World Bank Group.
    14. Hideko Magara, 2013. "Introduction: two decades of structural reform and political change in Italy and Japan," Chapters, in: Hideko Magara & Stefano Sacchi (ed.), The Politics of Structural Reforms, chapter 1, pages 1-24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Blerina Mucaj, 2006. "Efficiency of Pension Funds Management in OECD Countries: Registered Retirement Savings Plan in Canada," Development Discussion Papers 2006-05, JDI Executive Programs.
    16. Kristie Drucza, 2019. "Nepal’s Social Security Reforms, State-building and the Role of Trade Unions," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 14(1), pages 62-82, April.
    17. Soòa KILIÁNOVÁ & Igor MELICHERÈÍK & Daniel ŠEVÈOVIÈ, 2006. "A Dynamic Accumulation Model for the Second Pillar of the Slovak Pension System," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 56(11-12), pages 506-521, November.
    18. Jean‐Michel Glachant, 2008. "La Deregulation Des Industries De Reseaux Comme Politique Institutionnelle De Creation De Marches Et De Mecanismes De Gouvernance," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(3‐4), pages 487-525, September.
    19. Barbara Vis & Kees van Kersbergen, 2007. "Why and how do Political Actors Pursue Risky Reforms?," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 19(2), pages 153-172, April.
    20. Martin Hering, 2009. "A New Bismarckian Regime? Path Dependence and Possible Regime Shifts in Korea’s Evolving Pension System," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 262, McMaster University.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:zeswps:012004. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zesbrde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.