IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/japwor/v22y2010i1p31-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The optimal size of Japan's public pensions: An analysis considering the risks of longevity and volatility of return on assets

Author

Listed:
  • Miyazato, Naomi

Abstract

There are two main pension systems: the Defined Benefit (DB) pension system and the Defined Contribution (DC) pension system. Each system has advantages and disadvantages. This paper investigates to what degree Japan should maintain a DB public pension system which offers the benefit of sharing risk and to what degree Japan must adopt a DC pension system to eliminate intergenerational imbalance. The risks of longevity and volatility of return on assets are incorporated into the simulation model. As a result of the simulation analysis, a replacement rate of 20-30% would be adequate for future generations if the expected return on assets and the wage growth rate are at the same level. Meanwhile, if the former is 2% points larger than the latter, a replacement rate of 0% or full-scale privatization would be desirable.

Suggested Citation

  • Miyazato, Naomi, 2010. "The optimal size of Japan's public pensions: An analysis considering the risks of longevity and volatility of return on assets," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 31-39, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:japwor:v:22:y:2010:i:1:p:31-39
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0922-1425(09)00030-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan J. Auerbach & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1991. "Generational Accounts: A Meaningful Alternative to Deficit Accounting," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 5, pages 55-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. John Geanakoplos & Olivia S. Mitchell & Stephen P. Zeldes, "undated". "Would a Privatized Social Security System Really Pay a Higher Rate of Return?," Pension Research Council Working Papers 98-6, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
    3. Paul A. Samuelson, 1958. "An Exact Consumption-Loan Model of Interest with or without the Social Contrivance of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(6), pages 467-467.
    4. Henning Bohn, 2001. "Social Security and Demographic Uncertainty: The Risk-Sharing Properties of Alternative Policies," NBER Chapters, in: Risk Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform, pages 203-246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Martin Feldstein & Elena Ranguelova, 2001. "Individual Risk in an Investment-Based Social Security System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1116-1125, September.
    6. Yukinobu Kitamura & Noriyuki Takayama, 1999. "Lessons from Generational Accounting in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 171-175, May.
    7. Zvi Bodie & Alan J. Marcus & Robert C. Merton, 1988. "Defined Benefit versus Defined Contribution Pension Plans: What are the Real Trade-offs?," NBER Chapters, in: Pensions in the U.S. Economy, pages 139-162, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Noriyuki Takayama & Yukinobu Kitamura & Hiroshi Yoshida, 1999. "Generational Accounting in Japan," NBER Chapters, in: Generational Accounting around the World, pages 447-470, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Mark Huggett & Gustavo Ventura, 1999. "On the Distributional Effects of Social Security Reform," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(3), pages 498-531, July.
    10. Sanchez-Marcos, Virginia & Sanchez-Martin, Alfonso R., 2006. "Can social security be welfare improving when there is demographic uncertainty?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(9-10), pages 1615-1646.
    11. David Bradford, 1991. "Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 5," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number brad91-1.
    12. Kato, Ryuta, 1998. "Transition to an Aging Japan: Public Pension, Savings, and Capital Taxation," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 204-231, September.
    13. Christoph Borgmann, 2005. "Social Security, Demographics, and Risk," Population Economics, Springer, number 978-3-540-26697-6, September.
    14. Auerbach, Alan J. & Kotlikoff, Laurence J. & Leibfritz, Willi (ed.), 1999. "Generational Accounting around the World," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226032139, September.
    15. Imrohoroglu, Ayse & Imrohoroglu, Selahattin & Joines, Douglas H, 1995. "A Life Cycle Analysis of Social Security," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 6(1), pages 83-114, June.
    16. Shinichi Nishiyama & Kent Smetters, 2005. "Consumption Taxes and Economic Efficiency with Idiosyncratic Wage Shocks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 1088-1115, October.
    17. Seki Asano & Takashi Fukushima, 2006. "Some Empirical Evidence On Demand System* And Optimal Commodity Taxation," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 57(1), pages 50-68, March.
    18. Diamond, P. A., 1977. "A framework for social security analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 275-298, December.
    19. Tatsuo Hatta & Noruyoshi Oguchi, 1992. "Changing the Japanese Social Security System from Pay as You Go to Actuarially Fair," NBER Chapters, in: Topics in the Economics of Aging, pages 207-248, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Bessho, Shun-ichiro & Hayashi, Masayoshi, 2005. "Economic studies of taxation in Japan: The case of personal income taxes," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 956-972, December.
    21. Alan J. Auerbach & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Willi Leibfritz, 1999. "Generational Accounting around the World," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number auer99-1.
    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. Akira Okamoto, 2013. "Welfare Analysis of Pension Reforms in an Ageing Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 64(4), pages 452-483, December.
    2. Akira Okamoto, 2013. "Simulating Public Pension Reforms in an Aging Japan: Welfare Analysis with LSRA Transfers," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 9(4), pages 597-632, September.
    3. Toloo, Mehdi & Tone, Kaoru & Izadikhah, Mohammad, 2023. "Selecting slacks-based data envelopment analysis models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(3), pages 1302-1318.
    4. Masatoshi Jinno, 2013. "The impact of immigration under the defined-benefit pension system," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(21), pages 613-636.

    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. Daniel Harenberg & Alexander Ludwig, 2019. "Idiosyncratic Risk, Aggregate Risk, And The Welfare Effects Of Social Security," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(2), pages 661-692, May.
    2. Kotlikoff, Laurence J., 2002. "Generational policy," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 27, pages 1873-1932, Elsevier.
    3. Miyazato, Naomi, 2015. "Intergenerational redistribution policies of the 1990s and 2000s in Japan: An analysis using generational accounting," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34, pages 1-16.
    4. Feldstein, Martin & Liebman, Jeffrey B., 2002. "Social security," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 32, pages 2245-2324, Elsevier.
    5. Sabzalizad Honarvar , Sonia & Raghfar , Hossein & Mousavi , Mirhossein, 2017. "Macroeconomic and Welfare Effects of Parametric Pension Reform in Iran," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 12(4), pages 455-479, October.
    6. Jacques Le Cacheux & Vincent Touzé, 2002. "Les modèles d'équilibre général calculable à générations imbriquées. Enjeux, méthodes et résultats," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 80(1), pages 87-113.
    7. Alessandro Bucciol & Laura Cavalli & Igor Fedotenkov & Paolo Pertile & Veronica Polin & Nicola Sartor & Alessandro Sommacal, 2014. "A large scale OLG model for France, Italy and Sweden: assessing the interpersonal and intrapersonal redistributive effects of public policies," Working Papers 07/2014, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    8. Karsten Jeske, 2003. "Pension systems and aggregate shocks," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 88(Q1), pages 15-31.
    9. Daniel Harenberg & Alexander Ludwig, "undated". "Social Security and the Interactions Between Aggregate and Idiosyncratic Risk," Working Papers ETH-RC-14-002, ETH Zurich, Chair of Systems Design.
    10. Shimasawa, Manabu & Oguro, Kazumasa & Masujima, Minoru, 2014. "Population Aging, Policy Reforms, and Lifetime Net Tax Rate in Japan: A Generational Accounting Approach," CIS Discussion paper series 625, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    11. Fanny A. Kluge, 2009. "Transfers, consumption and income over the lifecycle in Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-014, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    12. Andrew Mason & Ronald Lee & An-Chi Tung & Mun-Sim Lai & Tim Miller, 2009. "Population Aging and Intergenerational Transfers: Introducing Age into National Accounts," NBER Chapters, in: Developments in the Economics of Aging, pages 89-122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Damla Hacýibrahimoðlu & Pýnar Derin-Güre, 2015. "Generational Accounting in Turkey," Bogazici Journal, Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 1-26.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2091 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bucciol, Alessandro & Cavalli, Laura & Fedotenkov, Igor & Pertile, Paolo & Polin, Veronica & Sartor, Nicola & Sommacal, Alessandro, 2017. "A large scale OLG model for the analysis of the redistributive effects of policy reforms," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 104-127.
    16. repec:pri:cepsud:74bradford is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Kazakova, Maria & Nesterova, Kristina, 2015. "Long-Term Forecast of the Main Parameters of the Budgetary System of Russia," Published Papers 2309, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2091 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Fullerton, Don & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2002. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 26, pages 1787-1872, Elsevier.
    20. Alan J. Auerbach & Young Jun Chun & Ilho Yoo, 2005. "The Fiscal Burden of Korean Reunification: A Generational Accounting Approach," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 61(1), pages 62-97, March.
    21. Bohn, Henning, 2009. "Intergenerational risk sharing and fiscal policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 805-816, September.
    22. Gemma Abío & Eduard Berenguer & Holger Bonin & Joan Gil & Concepció Patxot, 2003. "Is the deficit under control? A generational accounting perspective on fiscal policy and labour market trends in Spain," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 27(2), pages 309-341, May.
    23. Leon Bettendorf & A. Horst & N. Draper & C. Ewijk & R. Mooij & H. Rele, 2011. "Ageing and the Conflict of Interest Between Generations," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 257-278, September.

    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:eee:japwor:v:22:y:2010:i:1:p:31-39. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505557 .

    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.