Public and private pension spending: principles, practice and the need for reform

This paper surveys the issue of public spending on pensions. Drawing on evidence from systems around the world, but particularly in Britain, we outline the arguments for different types of public and private provision of pension income and consider how far they go towards meeting the objectives of pension provision. We discuss past trends in spending and look at future projections.

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Number of Pages: 6Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Constraints on OH Megamaser Excitation from a Survey of OH Satellite Lines

We report the results of a full-Stokes survey of all four 18 cm OH lines in 77 OH megamasers (OHMs) using the Arecibo Observatory. This is the first survey of OHMs that included observations of the OH satellite lines; only 4 of the 77 OHMs have existing satellite line observations in the literature. In 5 sources, satellite line emission is detected, with 3 of the 5 sources re-detections of previously published sources. The 2 sources with new detections of satellite line emission are IRAS F10173+0829, which was detected at 1720 MHz, and IRAS F15107+0724, for which both the 1612 MHz and 1720 MHz lines were detected. In IRAS F15107+0724, the satellite lines are partially conjugate, as 1720 MHz absorption and 1612 MHz emission have the same structure at some velocities within the source, along with additional broader 1612 MHz emission. This is the first observed example of conjugate satellite lines in an OHM. In the remaining sources, no satellite line emission is observed. The detections and upper limits are generally consistent with models of OHM emission in which all of the 18 cm OH lines have the same excitation temperature. There is no evidence for a significant population of strong satellite line emitters among OHMs.Comment: 9 pages, accepted to Ap

Preparing for retirement: the pension arrangements and retirement expectations of those approaching state pension age in England

This paper provides a detailed analysis of individuals in households in England aged between 50 and the State Pension Age in terms of their private pension arrangements and current non-pension assets alongside their expectations of future economic circumstances. Our descriptive findings include that members of defined benefit pensions have higher average levels of current earnings than members of defined contribution pensions and that median expected private pension income in retirement is highest for current members of defined benefit schemes. We find that on average those who have, or have had, a private pension have greater non-pension wealth than those who have never had a private pension. In terms of expectations of the future we find that it is those who have the fewest assets who have the least attachment to the labour market and are far less likely to expect any inheritance. Hence we conclude that inequalities in different dimensions of retirement resources tend to reinforce themselves as opposed to offset each other. This working paper was updated in October 2005 to take account of revised housing wealth numbers. Appendices containing additional tables can be downloaded here: Section 2 pdf file [138 KB]; Sections 3 pdf file [119 KB]; Section 4 pdf file [179 KB];

The Impact of 9/11 and Other Terrible Global Events on Tourism in the U.S. and Hawaii

This paper reviews recent trends in travel and tourism in the U.S. and Hawaii to ascertain how the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and subsequent terrible global events affected their tourism flows and the manner and pace of their recovery. We note that tourism in the U.S. has not fully recovered from 9/11 and other international shocks; indeed recovery of international travel to the U.S. may be a long way off. By contrast, Hawaii tourism is enjoying robust growth in the aftermath of 9/11 as growth in tourist arrivals from the U.S. mainland has more than offset declines in Japanese and other international visitors. We suggest that Hawaii's current tourism boom is in part explained by the diversion of U.S. travel from foreign travel. The paper demonstrates the usefulness of vector error correction models to generate dynamic visitor forecasts which we use to ascertain whether tourism in Hawaii has fully recovered from 9/11 and other terrible international events. The paper considers policy options for facilitating the recovery of international tourism to the U.S.