The economics of pensions.

This paper sets out the economic analytics of pensions. After introductory discussion, successive sections consider the effects of different pension arrangements on labour markets, on national savings and growth, and on the distribution of burdens and benefits. These areas are controversial and politically highly salient. While we are open about expressing our own views, the main purpose of the paper is to set out the analytical process by which we reach them, to enable readers to form their own conclusions.

Improving Sweden's Automatic Pension Adjustment Mechanism

The public pension world has seen two innovations in recent years. One is the emergence of notional defined contribution (NDC) plans. The other is the introduction of automatic adjustment mechanisms to help keep pension systems solvent when the economy weakens. This brief looks at the Swedish system to demonstrate how NDCs work and evaluates the work­ings of the automatic adjustment mechanism in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Sweden passed reform legislation in 1994 that in­troduced a partially-funded NDC plan.1 The arrange­ment is conceptually similar to a defined contribution plan in that contributions are accumulated in indi­vidual accounts, but different in that the accounts are not fully funded and may be financed entirely on a pay-as-you-go basis. In this setting, the rate of return credited on the account assets is based on a rule rath­er than on actual returns. The Swedish system uses a notional interest rate equal to the rate of growth of average earnings. However, if a calculation suggests a potential deficit, the notional interest rate is auto­matically reduced through a “brake” mechanism. The recent financial crisis has highlighted ways in which the brake mechanism could be improved. This brief proceeds as follows. The first section describes Sweden’s NDC plan. The second describes the Swedish brake mechanism. The third describes two problems with the current adjustment procedure: 1) it creates the likelihood of large shocks for retir­ees; and 2) while disadvantaging retirees, it tends to advantage workers. The fourth section presents pos­sible fixes for the current problems. The final section concludes that the Swedish NDC plan could function more effectively with modest changes to the brake mechanism.

Reforming Pensions

This article, based on two books (2008, forthcoming), sets out principles for pension design: pension systems have multiple objectives, analysis should consider the pension system as a whole, analysis should be in a second-best context, different systems share risks differently and have different effects by generation and by gender. The article considers policy implications: there is no single best pension design; earlier retirement does not reduce unemployment; unsustainable pension promises should be addressed directly; adding funding in a PAYG mandatory system may or may not be welfare improving; and implementation matters – design should not exceeds a country’s capacity to implement.pension, social security

Guilt, shame, and grief: an empirical study of perinatal bereavement

Aim. The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship of personality guilt- and shame-proneness to grief and psychological dysphoria following bereavement due to stillbirth or death in the newborn period. Methods. Participating parents completed self-report questionnaire measures of proneness to situational guilt and shame (Test of Self-Conscious Affect-2), chronic guilt and shame (Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2) and interpersonal guilt (Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire-67), grief (Perinatal Grief Scale-33) and psychological dysphoria (General Health Questionnaire-28) one month (�early�, N = 158) and 13 months (�late�, N = 149) after a perinatal death. Results. Women compared with men self-reported more intense grief, anxiety and depression one month after the death, but there were no significant sex differences in grief or psychological dysphoria one year later. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that composite shame (situational and chronic) explained a small but statistically significant proportion of the variance in early total grief (adjusted R 2 = .09) and anxiety (adjusted R 2 = .07) in women, and early total grief (adjusted R 2 = .19), anxiety (adjusted R 2 = .13) and depression (adjusted R 2 = .10) in men. Composite guilt (situational, chronic and interpersonal) controlled for shame did not make a significant further contribution to the variance in early total grief, anxiety or depression in either sex. Composite shame explained not only significant but meaningful proportions of the variance in late grief (adjusted R2=.27), anxiety (adjusted R2=.21) and depression (adjusted R2=.27) in women, and late grief (adjusted R2= .56),anxiety (adjusted R 2= .30) and depression (adjusted R2= .51) in men. Composite guilt controlled for shame made significant further contributions to the variancein late grief (∆R 2 = .21), anxiety (∆R 2 = .16) and depression (∆R 2 = .25) in women, and late grief (∆R 2 = .11) in men. Shame and guilt together explained a substantial proportion of the variance in late grief (adjusted R2= .45), anxiety (adjusted R2= .33) and depression (adjusted R2= .49) in women, and late grief (adjusted R2= .64), anxiety (adjusted R2= .35) and depression (adjusted R2= .56) in men. Situational shame, chronic guilt and survivor guilt made positive unique contributions to the variance in late grief in women. Chronic shame and survivor guilt made unique contributions to the variance in late grief in men. Situational guilt made a significant unique negatively valenced contribution to the variance in late grief in women. Early composite shame, but not guilt, predicted late grief, anxiety and depression in men. Early composite shame and/or guilt did not predict late grief, anxiety or depression in women. Conclusion. Personality proneness to shame was more relevant to late grief, anxiety and depression in men than in women, but survivor guilt was equally important to late grief in both sexes. Chronic guilt and functional situational guilt were pertinent to late grief, anxiety and depression in women, but not in men. Personality shame- and guilt-proneness have important relationships with parental grief after perinatal death that have not hitherto been recognised

Reforming pensions : principles, analytical errors, and policy directions

November 28, 200

Characterizing Van Kampen Squares via Descent Data

Categories in which cocones satisfy certain exactness conditions w.r.t. pullbacks are subject to current research activities in theoretical computer science. Usually, exactness is expressed in terms of properties of the pullback functor associated with the cocone. Even in the case of non-exactness, researchers in model semantics and rewriting theory inquire an elementary characterization of the image of this functor. In this paper we will investigate this question in the special case where the cocone is a cospan, i.e. part of a Van Kampen square. The use of Descent Data as the dominant categorical tool yields two main results: A simple condition which characterizes the reachable part of the above mentioned functor in terms of liftings of involved equivalence relations and (as a consequence) a necessary and sufficient condition for a pushout to be a Van Kampen square formulated in a purely algebraic manner.Comment: In Proceedings ACCAT 2012, arXiv:1208.430

A Note on the Economic Implications of A Focused Tourism Event: Bikers in Myrtle Beach

As we have graphically seen since September 11, 2001, areas which depend heavily upon tourism as a primary source of income face a host of challenges. South Carolina\u27s Grand Strand area is a good example of just such an area. A number of focused tourism-related events intended to attract a certain segment of the population have evolved over the years. Two such events revolve around the attraction of motorcyclists. One occurs during early to mid-May (with a burgeoning repeat presence in the Fall), while the other occurs over Memorial Day weekend. Both events have proven to be successful in terms of attracting participants, but are also seen as being somewhat problematic. Of course, proof of economic success rests with demonstrating the overall impact that each event has on the area. This study seeks to examine spending patterns of three important and relatively diverse tourist groups (i.e., including tourists who would ordinarily be attracted to the area regardless of the event) to gain some appreciation for possible benefits or pitfalls

Значение специфических инфекций у беременных в развитии хронической плацентарной недостаточности

ПЛАЦЕНТАРНАЯ НЕДОСТАТОЧНОСТЬБЕРЕМЕННОСТИ ОСЛОЖНЕНИЯПОЛОВЫМ ПУТЕМ ПЕРЕДАВАЕМЫЕ БОЛЕЗНИИНФЕКЦИ