Reintroducing Intergenerational Equilibrium: Key Concepts behind the New Polish Pension System

Poland adopted a new pension system in 1999. This new pension system allows Poland to reduce pension expenditure (as a percent of GDP), instead of increasing it – as is projected for the majority of other OECD countries. This paper presents the conceptual background of the new system design. The new system’s long-term objective is to ensure intergenerational equilibrium irrespective of the demographic situation. This requires stabilisation of the share of GDP allocated to the entire retired generation. Traditional pension systems aim, instead, at stabilisation of the share of GDP per retiree. The change in demographic structure observed over the past for a couple of decades and this historic attempt to stabilise the share of GDP per retiree led to severe fiscal problems and negative externalities for growth, as observed in numerous countries. Many countries have tried to reform their pension systems in different ways to try to resolve the issue of these ever-increasing costs. Although the Polish reform uses a number of techniques applied elsewhere, its design differs from the typical approaches – and the lessons and results are promising for all OECD countries. This paper presents the theoretical and practical application of this alternative approach and as such, the key features of the new Polish pension system design.pensions, equilibrium, GDP, pension debt servicing, income allocation, generations

Pension Reform Options for Russia and Ukraine: A Critical Analysis of Available Options and Their Expected Outcomes (with a Focus on Labour Market, Industrial Restructuring and Public Finance)

Russia and Ukraine are in the process of many changes stemming from economic transition, restructuring, demographic change and other various ongoing challenges. In terms of the ongoing challenges in each country, there are specific problems related to historical developments, such as large scale heavy industry, but also potential opportunities that rarely occur in other countries such as the significant additional income from the countries' abundant natural resources. Both countries have good prospects for the future despite the many challenges. Among the challenges is industrial restructuring taking into account the social dimension, which includes adjusting the current arrangements of pension systems. In the best scenario this could mean a pension reform. The term 'pension reform' can be understood in various ways. In this paper we analyse a wide variety of possible pension system designs. The designs vary by target as well as the various ways to reach those targets. In all cases there may be costs and/or savings problems (as well as liquidity problems, which are not a "cost" from the economic viewpoint as liquidity is accounted as if additional cost were created) and various positive and/or negative economic, financial, and social externalities associated with the pension system designs.

Migration with pension reform expectations

Pension reforms, which imply a reduction in the generosity of pension benefits, are becoming widespread in response to the demographic transition. The scale, the timing, and the pace of these reforms vary across countries. In this theoretical article, the authors analyse individual migration decisions, by adding a component linked to the expected old-age pension benefits in sending and receiving countries in two cases: when the pension system rules are known, and when there is a risk of pension systems reforms. The results indicate that when individuals fail to take future pension wealth into account, they can make sub-optimal migration decisions

Reintroducing Intergenerational Equilibrium: Key Concepts behind the New Polish Pension System

Poland adopted a new pension system in 1999. This new pension system allows Poland to reduce pension expenditure (as a percent of GDP), instead of increasing it – as is projected for the majority of other OECD countries. This paper presents the conceptual background of the new system design. The new system’s long-term objective is to ensure intergenerational equilibrium irrespective of the demographic situation. This requires stabilisation of the share of GDP allocated to the entire retired generation. Traditional pension systems aim, instead, at stabilisation of the share of GDP per retiree. The change in demographic structure observed over the past for a couple of decades and this historic attempt to stabilise the share of GDP per retiree led to severe fiscal problems and negative externalities for growth, as observed in numerous countries. Many countries have tried to reform their pension systems in different ways to try to resolve the issue of these ever-increasing costs. Although the Polish reform uses a number of techniques applied elsewhere, its design differs from the typical approaches – and the lessons and results are promising for all OECD countries. This paper presents the theoretical and practical application of this alternative approach and as such, the key features of the new Polish pension system design.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39960/3/wp574.pd

Hydrodesulfurization of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene and the diesel oil fraction on NiMo catalysts supported over proton-exchanged AlMCM-41 and TiMCM-41 extrudates

NiMo catalysts supported on mesoporous MCM-41 type materials shaped with binder were tested for activity in the hydrodesulfurization of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) and the diesel fuel fraction (0.92 wt% of sulfur). The aim of the investigation was to evaluate the effect of ion exchange with protons of Al- or Ti-substituted MCM-41 mesoporous supports. The subjected catalytic systems were NiMo/HAlMCM-41 and NiMo/HTiMCM-41, and for comparison purposes NiMo/AlMCM-41 and NiMo/TiMCM-41. The samples were characterized by N2 sorption (at 77 K), XRD, TEM, XPS, SEM and Py–IR. It was found that the functionalization of AlMCM-41 and TiMCM-41 with protons increased the conversion of 4,6-DMDBT and the pseudo-first-order rate constant. Correspondingly, 4,6-DMDBT HDS reactions over the NiMo/HTiMCM-41 catalyst proceeded to a similar extent via hydrogenation and direct desulfurization, whereas over the NiMo/HAlMCM-41 they proceeded mainly via direct desulfurization. Furthermore, the ion-exchanged catalysts displayed two-fold higher efficiency in direct desulfurization than their non-modified counterparts. The NiMo/HTiMCM-41 catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic efficiency in the HDS of 4,6-DMDBT and the diesel oil fraction. The high activity of the NiMo/HTiMCM-41 catalyst is mainly attributed to its appropriate acidity, as well as the metal–support interaction providing both the high dispersion of the active phase and the desirable multilayered stacking morphology of the active phase slabs