Welfare Reform on the Web (July 2003): Pensions - Overseas

DEVELOPING A SINGLE MARKET FOR OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS IN EUROPE

J. Marshall

Pensions International, no. 49, 2003, p. 14-17

Traces the legislative history of the EU Pensions Directive which aims to facilitate the cross-border operation of occupational pension schemes.

THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC PENSION SCHEME: THE NEED FOR REFORM

C. U. Uche and O. C. Uche

Pensions, vol. 8, 2003, p. 235-251

Paper argues that the current public sector pension scheme in Nigeria is unsustainable. The sheer size of the public sector workforce in Nigeria makes it difficult for the government to pay its workers their basic salary, let alone meet its pension commitments. Furthermore, the present situation unjustifiably favours Nigerians who belong to the public sector workforce over the majority employed in the private sector. Finally, the sheer size of the public sector workforce and the attendant pensions liability prevents the government from investing in the country's infrastructure to promote economic development.

SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, UNIONS AND PENSION POLITICS IN GERMANY AND SWEDEN

K. M. Anderson and T. Meyer

Journal of Public Policy, vol. 23, 2003, p. 23-54

Article investigates the role of social democratic parties and unions in pension reform politics in Sweden and Germany. Argues that pension reforms were more successful in Sweden than Germany both in terms of correcting perceived programme weaknesses and in promoting core social democratic values. In Sweden the Social Democratic Party co-operated in a structural overhaul of public pensions between 1994 and 1998. The state still plays a major role in the reformed pension system, but the role of market forces is much stronger. Despite the changes, however, the reformed system retains its core social democratic features. In contrast, the social democratic-led pension reform in Germany appears to be motivated more by cost containment than by redistributive values. It opens up a path towards more privatisation and greater inequality.