This thesis examines stabilizing mechanisms in social security retirement systems (“SSRS”), especially those purporting to be automatic balancing mechanisms (“ABM”). It develops a consistent approach to identifying whether an ABM is robust, partial or transitory and establishes a terminology to classify balancing mechanisms. Both financial and equitable balances are considered in assessing whether an ABM achieves balance. Families of definitions of equity are presented and a benchmark by which to measure equitable balance is defined and applied. The balancing mechanisms of Canada, Germany, Japan and Sweden are described, evaluated and classified. None of these mechanisms are found to be robust. This thesis provides a critical analysis of an approach referred to as integration to financial markets and the approach is found to be deficient. In analyzing the Swedish SSRS a critical error in the way assets are calculated is identified and a suitable correction is proposed. A further weakness in the application of the Swedish ABM is identified that means that once an imbalance occurs, balance is unlikely to be restored. The thesis also discusses some of the unusual characteristics of the steady-state contribution rate calculation for the Canadian SSRS and shows that although it has limited application and does not appear to depend on any actuarial principle, the steady-state contribution rate calculation creates a tension between the near and distant future, which is a factor in achieving financial balance over a seventy-five year horizon. With respect to the balancing mechanism in the Canadian SSRS, the thesis proposes a change in how the mechanism is defined so that the mechanism would be robust, within certain ranges.

This thesis examines stabilizing mechanisms in social security retirement systems (“SSRS”), especially those purporting to be automatic balancing mechanisms (“ABM”). It develops a consistent approach to identifying whether an ABM is robust, partial or transitory and establishes a terminology to classify balancing mechanisms. Both financial and equitable balances are considered in assessing whether an ABM achieves balance. Families of definitions of equity are presented and a benchmark by which to measure equitable balance is defined and applied. The balancing mechanisms of Canada, Germany, Japan and Sweden are described, evaluated and classified. None of these mechanisms are found to be robust. This thesis provides a critical analysis of an approach referred to as integration to financial markets and the approach is found to be deficient. In analyzing the Swedish SSRS a critical error in the way assets are calculated is identified and a suitable correction is proposed. A further weakness in the application of the Swedish ABM is identified that means that once an imbalance occurs, balance is unlikely to be restored. The thesis also discusses some of the unusual characteristics of the steady-state contribution rate calculation for the Canadian SSRS and shows that although it has limited application and does not appear to depend on any actuarial principle, the steady-state contribution rate calculation creates a tension between the near and distant future, which is a factor in achieving financial balance over a seventy-five year horizon. With respect to the balancing mechanism in the Canadian SSRS, the thesis proposes a change in how the mechanism is defined so that the mechanism would be robust, within certain ranges.

Cette thèse a pour objectif de mettre en évidence les déterminants de l'innovation médicale et ses effets sur la croissance économique. Elle repose sur la construction d'une base de données répertoriant les dépenses et les consommations de biens et services de santé entre 1980 et 2010, ainsi que sur trois modèles théoriques. Les résultats établis, pour les cohortes nées entre 1923 et 2010, mettent en évidence que les innovations médicales sont essentiellement déterminées par les variations démographiques. Par ailleurs, même si ces innovations médicales ont historiquement permis l'apparition d'importantes économies d'échelles, elles ne jouent pas actuellement un rôle moteur dans la croissance macro-économique. En effet, dans les conditions actuelles de stabilité des courbes de survie, cette mécanique de l'innovation médicale n'apparaît pas comme une force motrice de la croissance macro-économique de court terme. Les effets multiplicateurs de l'innovation médicale sur la croissance économique seraient donc, à court terme, négatifs ou nuls. / This thesis aims to highlight the determinants of medical innovation and its impact on economic growth. It is based on building a database of spending and consumption of health goods and services between 1980 and 2010, and also on three theoretical models. Established results for cohorts born between 1923 and 2010 show that medical innovations are mainly determined by demographic changes. Moreover, even if these medical innovations have historically allowed the emergence of significant economies of scale, they do not currently play a leading role in macro-economic growth. Indeed, in the current conditions of stability of the survival curves, the mechanics of medical innovation does not appear as a driving force for macroeconomic growth short term. The multiplier effects of medical innovation on economic growth would be, on the short-term, negative or zero.