How Mandatory Pensions Affect Labor Supply Decisions and Human Capital Accumulation? Options to Bridge the Gap between Economic Theory and Policy Analysis

Mandatory pension systems can have a negative impact on individual savings and labor supply decisions. In particular, defined benefit pension schemes that are not actuarially fair, can create incentives for early retirement, and therefore, reduce labor supply and the stock of human capital. After a review of frequently applied approaches to assess the incentives generated by a pension system, the paper develops an indicator to predict the age-specific retirement probabilities induced by a particular pension system given heterogeneous individual preferences. The paper then describes how this indicator could be used to project the size of the labor force by gender, age and skill level, and correspondingly, the dynamics of human capital accumulation. Finally, the paper develops a set of life-cycle income measures to assess how the pension system affects decisions regarding the supply of labor in the public and private sectors. The methods are illustrated in the case of Morocco.life cycle models, labor supply, human capital, retirement policies, job and occupational mobility

Assessing the distortions of mandatory pensions on labor supply decisions and human capital accumulation : how to bridge the gap between economic theory and policy analysis

Mandatory pension systems play a major role in individual savings and labor supply decisions. In particular, it is well known that defined benefit pension schemes, which are not actuarially fair, can create incentives for early retirement and therefore reduce labor supply and the stock of human capital in a given country. This is an important policy issue in middle-income countries, with still low participation rates in the labor force, where the"window"opened by the demographic transition is already closed or will close in the near future. In these countries, policies to stimulate private sector growth, competitiveness, and employment creation should be accompanied by policies that increase labor force participation, raising the ratio of active to inactive population and therefore the potential for higher income per capita growth. Unfortunately, the analytical tools developed to assess pension reform options tend to focus on the financial sustainability of the schemes and the adequacy of benefits. Little attention is given in practice to the social costs imposed by distortions on the supply of labor. In part, this is given by the lack of analytical tools that, in the context of limited information regarding individual preferences and behavior, can be used to assess the magnitude of these distortions. This paper develops methodologies that can bridge the gap between economic theory and the practices of pension policy personnel under conditions of deep uncertainty regarding the variables driving individual behavioral responses to policy changes. First, the paper develops an indicator to predict the age-specific retirement probabilities induced by a particular pension system, given heterogeneous individual preferences over risk, consumption, and leisure. The paper then describes how this indicator can be used to project the size of the labor force by gender, age and skill level and therefore the dynamics of human capital accumulation. The integration of these two analytical tools allow us to show the impact of a particularpension reform proposals on the dynamics of labor supply, human capital and, given the dynamics of capital and total factor productivity, economic growth. Furthermore, the paper develops a set of life-cycle income measures for typical individual paths that allow us to measure the contribution of segmented pension schemes to the segmentation of the labor market. The methods are applied to the case of Morocco.,Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Debt Markets

Modular Optical PDV System

A modular optical photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV) detector system has been developed by using readily available optical components with a 20-GHz Miteq optical detector into eight channels of single-wide modules integrated into a 3U rack unit (1U = 1.75 inches) with a common power supply. Optical fibers were precisely trimmed, welded, and timed within each unit. This system has been used to collect dynamic velocity data on various physics experiments. An optical power meter displays the laser input power to the module and optical power at the detector. An adjustable micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) optical attenuator is used to adjust the amount of unshifted light entering the detector. Front panel LEDs show the presence of power to the module. A fully loaded chassis with eight channels consumes 45 watts of power. Each chassis requires 1U spacing above and below for heat management. Modules can be easily replaced

The effect of charge separation on the phase behavior of dipolar colloidal rods

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Colloids with anisotropic shape and charge distribution can assemble into a variety of structures that could find use as novel materials for optical, photonic, electronic and structural applications. Because experimental characterization of the many possible types of multi-shape and multipolar colloidal particles that could form useful structures is difficult, the search for novel colloidal materials can be enhanced by simulations of colloidal particle assembly. We have simulated a system of dipolar colloidal rods at fixed aspect ratio using discontinuous molecular dynamics (DMD) to investigate how the charge separation of an embedded dipole affects the types of assemblies that occur. Each dipolar rod is modeled as several overlapping spheres fixed in an elongated shape to represent excluded volume and two smaller, embedded spheres to represent the charges that make up the extended dipole. Large charge separations predominately form structures where the rods link head-to-tail while small charge separations predominately form structures where the rods stack side-by-side. Rods with small charge separations tend to form dense aggregates while rods with large charge separations tend to form coarse gel-like structures. Structural phase boundaries between fluid, string-fluid, and "gel'' (networked) phases are mapped out and characterized as to whether they have global head-to-tail or global side-by-side order. A structural coarsening transition is observed for particles with large charge separations in which the head-tail networks thicken as temperature is lowered due to an increased tendency to form side-by-side structures. Triangularly connected networks form at small charge separations; these may be useful for encapsulating smaller particles.DFG, GRK 1524, Self-Assembled Soft-Matter Nanostructures at Interface

How Mandatory Pensions Affect Labor Supply Decisions and Human Capital Accumulation? Options to Bridge the Gap between Economic Theory and Policy Analysis

Mandatory pension systems can have a negative impact on individual savings and labor supply decisions. In particular, defined benefit pension schemes that are not actuarially fair, can create incentives for early retirement, and therefore, reduce labor supply and the stock of human capital. After a review of frequently applied approaches to assess the incentives generated by a pension system, the paper develops an indicator to predict the age-specific retirement probabilities induced by a particular pension system given heterogeneous individual preferences. The paper then describes how this indicator could be used to project the size of the labor force by gender, age and skill level, and correspondingly, the dynamics of human capital accumulation. Finally, the paper develops a set of life-cycle income measures to assess how the pension system affects decisions regarding the supply of labor in the public and private sectors. The methods are illustrated in the case of Morocco

How Mandatory Pensions Affect Labor Supply Decisions and Human Capital Accumulation? Options to Bridge the Gap between Economic Theory and Policy Analysis

Mandatory pension systems can have a negative impact on individual savings and labor supply decisions. In particular, defined benefit pension schemes that are not actuarially fair, can create incentives for early retirement, and therefore, reduce labor supply and the stock of human capital. After a review of frequently applied approaches to assess the incentives generated by a pension system, the paper develops an indicator to predict the age-specific retirement probabilities induced by a particular pension system given heterogeneous individual preferences. The paper then describes how this indicator could be used to project the size of the labor force by gender, age and skill level, and correspondingly, the dynamics of human capital accumulation. Finally, the paper develops a set of life-cycle income measures to assess how the pension system affects decisions regarding the supply of labor in the public and private sectors. The methods are illustrated in the case of Morocco

A novel method for the synthesis of 1-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines

Carbenium ions generated from substituted benzhydryls using acid catalysis undergo smooth intramolecular trapping by pendant sulfonamide groups to provide excellent yields of 1-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines

Back to the drawing board:Can we compare socioeconomic background scales?

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónUtilizando datos de evaluaciones internacionales de gran escala, se evalúa la consistencia y la invarianza de las escalas de antecedentes socioeconómicos de los estudiantes entre los países participantes en estos estudios. Para ello, se utilizan las medidas de antecedentes socioeconómicos desarrolladas por PISA, TERCE y TIMSS, ya que cada estudio operacionaliza esta medida de manera diferente. Los resultados sugieren que ninguna de las escalas de contexto analizadas son completamente invariantes entre los países que participan en cada estudio, y por lo tanto las comparaciones entre países deben hacerse con precaución. Se discute sobre los niveles de equivalencia alcanzados por cada escala en cada estudio, así como el tipo de comparaciones que se pueden realizar dados estos resultados (e.g. comparación de los promedios nacionales de las escalas, comparación de relaciones o correlaciones entre las escalas evaluadas y otras variables, etc.).ES