The determinants of savings in the third pension pillar

The paper analyses participation in and contributions to the third pillar of the pension system by Belgian households. This pillar represents individual saving for retirement and has been growing rapidly. A detailed dataset of tax declarations over the period from 1993 until 2003 was used to analyse the possible determinants of saving in the third pillar. Firstly, this dataset makes an analysis from a macroeconomic point of view possible, showing an apparent increase in total contributions to the third pillar by 39 p.c. in real terms between 1993 and 2003. This increase is mainly due to a rise in the participation rate (29 p.c. in 1993 and 40 p.c. in 2003). A detailed analysis is provided across the age groups, which further shows the influence of the demographic evolution, the average income of the participants in the third pillar and the contribution rate. The dataset also helps point up a wide number of possible microeconomic determinants of saving for retirement, such as age, income, professional status, civil status, region of residence, property ownership, employment situation, participation in second pillar pension schemes, number of dependents, etc. Moreover, the database allows a distinction to be made between the two forms in the third pillar : pension saving and life insurance. From such a microeconomic point of view, the analysis sheds some light on the major determinants of participation to the third pillar. The main findings show that older households are more likely to opt for a third pillar pension scheme. Furthermore, it appears that households consider the two forms of the third pillar as being complementary rather than substitutes for each other : households that participate in pension saving schemes are also more likely to take out life insurance and vice versa. Besides age, the other determinants that have a positive impact on participation in the third pillar of the pension system are : having higher income, being self-employed, getting an early retirement pension, being a home owner, being married and living in Flanders rather than Brussels or Wallonia.personal finance, pension fund, life insurance, private pensions

Participative Leadership and Organizational Identification in SMEs in the MENA Region: Testing the Roles of CSR Perceptions and Pride in Membership

The aim of this research is to explore the process linking participative leadership to organizational identification. The study examines the relationship between participative leadership and internal CSR perceptions of employees and also investigates the role that pride in membership plays in the affiliation of CSR perceptions with organizational identification. By studying these relationships, the paper aspires to contemplate new presumed mediators in the association of participative leadership with organizational identification as well as determine a possible novel antecedent of employee CSR perceptions. Empirical evidence is provided from data that was collected through a survey distributed to employees working for small- and medium-sized enterprises in three countries in the Middle East and North Africa regions, particularly the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Findings show that participative leadership leads to positive internal CSR perceptions of employees and that these CSR perceptions lead to pride in membership which, in turn, results in organizational identification. Implications of these findings are also discussed

Antecedentes da confiança do empregado na organização Antecedents of the employee confidence in the organization

O estudo da confiança do empregado na organização contribui para a compreensão da formação de vínculos com a organização empregadora. Baseando-se nessa premissa, este estudo apresenta os resultados de uma investigação sobre um modelo teórico que contemplou como variáveis preditoras: percepção de suporte organizacional, afeto e resiliência, em relação à confiança do empregado na organização. A amostra foi composta por160 trabalhadores que responderam aos instrumentos válidos e confiáveis. Para a análise dos dados utilizaram-se estatísticas descritivas, cálculo da confiabilidade das medidas e análise de regressão múltipla stepwise. Os resultados indicaram que o principal preditor da confiança do empregado é a percepção de suporte organizacional, a qual explicou o maior percentual de variância das variáveis - critério. Afeto foi eliminado de todos os modelos, enquanto que resiliência explica pequeno percentual de confiança nos padrões éticos. Os resultados são discutidos à luz da literatura e uma agenda de pesquisa é proposta.<br>The study of employee confidence in the organization contributes to understanding the entailment formation with the employing organization. Therefore, this study shows the results of an investigation about a theorical model that includes the following preditors variables: perception of organizational support, affects and resilience, with respect to the employee confidence in the organization. The sample consisted of 160 employees who answered to the valid and reliable instruments. For data analysis we used descriptive statistics, reliability calculation of the measurements and stepwise regression analysis. The results indicated that the main predictor of employee confidence is the perception of organizational support which explained the highest percentage of variance in the criterion variables. Affection was eliminated from all models, while resilience explains a small percentage of confidence in ethical standards. These results are discussed from the perspective of the literature and a research agenda is proposed