Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study traces the development of the welfare state in Mauritius and South Africa from the early 1900s until the present, with specific reference made to the non-contributory old-age pension scheme. It seeks to understand the intersections between big capital, the state and broad-based social forces in heralding different welfare outcomes in the two countries. Mauritius has retained its long-standing traditions as a social democratic welfare state stretching back to the late 1950s. In contrast, the current welfare model of South Africa continues to be the embodiment of the liberal welfare state, similar to that of the ancien regime set up in 1928, even though it has maintained a generous social grants system since the advent of democracy in 1994. As a result it is important to unravel patterns of historical evolution that are responsible for different welfare outcomes in seemingly identical socio-political contexts. Similarly, it is important to scratch below the surface of these historical patterns of evolution to account for these disparate welfare frameworks which, nonetheless, exhibit identical outcomes in the social security sector in terms of their unfaltering commitment to old-age pensions. To this end the dissertation employs the comparative historical analysis approach in a bid to draw cross-national parallels between the social processes that unfolded and consequently underpinned development paradigms over time. This study suggests that accounting for the divergent policy outcomes is the disproportionate powers being wielded by neoliberal market forces within the main arteries of the South African economy, which hindered the state from defining the policy direction of its welfare framework to dovetail with expansive social reforms. This restraint was compounded by the left as a 'labour aristocracy', whose alliance with the political ruling class compromised their ability to champion the pro-poor agenda with as much vigour as they would have if they had pursued an independent course. This is a far cry from the welfare trajectory of Mauritius, in which a mutual understanding between the state, cross-class movements and capitalist market forces bridged contesting class interests by reconciling market economics with social fundamentals. Unlike in South Africa, the independence of the working classes in Mauritius – whose mobilising traditions cut across the class spectrum – has added special impetus to the social reform movement, having served as the bulwark against welfare retrenchments and/or less egalitarian reforms in the past. That the universal pension scheme and the state’s commitment to the pro-poor cause remain intact in Mauritius is a result of these pro-active class contestations. On the other hand, the absence of the balance of power struck between social actors and the economic élite in South Africa propelled a class compromise that allowed for the dominance of pensions to come at the cost of extensive social reforms. Such outcomes would not have come into effect in South Africa had the playing field for all relevant stakeholders been level, as in Mauritius. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie volg die ontwikkeling van die welsynstaat in Mauritius en in Suid-Afrika vanaf die vroeë 1900’s tot op hede, met spesifieke verwysing na die nie-bydraende ouderdomspensioenskema. Dit poog om die snypunte tussen groot kapitaal, die staat en breë-basis maatskaplike kragte wat gelei het tot verskillende welsynuitkomstes in die twee lande te begryp. Mauritius het sy langdurige tradisie as ’n sosiale demokratiese welsynstaat, wat sedert die 1950’s bestaan, behou. In kontras gaan die huidige welsynmodel in Suid-Afrika voort as die beliggaming van die liberale welsynstaat, soortgelyk aan die ancien regime wat in 1928 ingestel is, selfs al het dit ’n vrygewige stelsel van maatskaplike toelae sedert die vestiging van demokrasie in 1994 onderhou. As gevolg hiervan is dit belangrik om die patrone van historiese evolusie te ontsyfer wat verantwoordelik is vir verskillende welsynuitkomstes in blykbaar identiese sosiaal-politiese kontekste. Eweneens is dit belangrik om onder die oppervlak van hierdie historiese patrone van evolusie te krap om hierdie uiteenlopende welsynraamwerke te verklaar wat nietemin identiese uitkomstes in die maatskaplike sekuriteitsektor vertoon in terme van hulle onwrikbare verbondenheid tot ouderdomspensioene. Ten einde dit te bereik gebruik hierdie proefskrif die benadering van vergelykende historiese analise in ’n poging om dwarsliggende nasionale ooreenstemmings te vind tussen die maatskaplike prosesse wat gelei het tot die skep van ontwikkelingsparadigmas oor tyd en hulle gevolglik onderskraag het. Hierdie studie stel voor dat die verklaring vir die uiteenlopende beleidsuitkomstes berus in die ongelyke magte wat binne die belangrikste kanale van die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie deur neoliberale markkragte beheer word, wat die staat daarvan weerhou het om ’n beleidsrigting vir sy welsynraamwerk te definieer wat by die breedvoerige maatskaplike hervormings pas. Hierdie remming word vererger deur die linkersy as ’n ‘arbeidsadelstand’, wie se alliansie met die politieke regerende klas hulle vermoë gekompromitteer het om die pro-arm agenda met soveel lewenskrag voor te staan as wat dit moontlik sou gewees het as hulle ’n onafhanklike koers ingeslaan het. Hierdie verskil hemelsbreed van die welsyntrajek in Mauritius, waar ’n wedersydse begrip tussen die staat, bewegings wat klas oorskry, en kapitalistiese markkragte kompeterende klasbelange oorbrug het deur die markekonomie met maatskaplike grondbeginsels te rekonsilieer. Anders as in Suid-Afrika het die onafhanklikheid van die werkersklas in Mauritius – wat se mobiliserende tradisies oor die klasspektrum heen sny – besondere impetus gevoeg by die maatskaplike hervormingsbeweging, aangesien dit gedien het as verskansing teen welsyninkortings en/of minder gelykmakende hervormings in die verlede. Dat die universele pensioenskema en die staat se verbondenheid tot die pro-arm saak in Mauritius onaangetas bly, is as gevolg van hierdie proaktiewe klasstryd. Andersins het die afwesigheid van ’n magsbalans tussen maatskaplike akteurs en die ekonomiese elite in Suid-Afrika gelei tot ’n klaskompromis, wat toegelaat het dat die oorheersing van pensioene gekom het ten koste van breedvoerige maatskaplike hervormings. Sulke uitkomstes sou nie in Suid-Afrika ingetree het nie as die speelveld vir al die relevante belanghebbers gelyk was, soos in Mauritius.

Li Wei. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-84). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / English Abstract --- p.ii / Chinese Abstract --- p.vii / Acknowledgements --- p.vi / Table of Contents --- p.vii / List of Graphs and Tables --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review / Chapter 2.1 --- Social Security and Savings --- p.3 / Chapter 2.2 --- Pension Funds and Financial Markets --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- China's Pension Reform --- p.14 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- China's Pension Reform / Chapter 3.1 --- The Evolution of Pension System --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Background for Current Reform --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3 --- The New Pension System --- p.27 / Chapter 3.4 --- Key Issues for Future Reform --- p.31 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- The Impact of Pension Reform on Private Savings in China / Chapter 4.1 --- The Theory --- p.36 / Chapter 4.2 --- The Model --- p.40 / Chapter 4.3 --- Data and Methodology --- p.45 / Chapter 4.4 --- Empirical Results --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- The Interaction between Pension Reform and Financial Marketin China / Chapter 5.1 --- The Effects of A Funded Pension System on Financial Market --- p.53 / Chapter 5.2 --- Pension Reform and Financial Market in China --- p.59 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Experiences of Chile and Singapore and the Implications for China / Chapter 6.1 --- The Pension Reform in Chile --- p.69 / Chapter 6.2 --- The Central Provident Funds in Singapore --- p.70 / Chapter 6.3 --- The Implications for China --- p.71 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Conclusion --- p.76 / Bibliography --- p.79 / Data Appendix --- p.85

Univ., Diss.--Osnabrück, 2002. / INFORGE = Interindustry Forecasting Germany.

This dissertation presents three essays on retirement and savings behaviour. It relies on secondary data from British national surveys to empirically address how workers prepare and adapt to the economic circumstances of later life. Chapter 1 analyses the effectiveness of providing workers with the opportunity to join workplace pension schemes to stimulate pension savings. It estimates the potential opt-in rate among employees who haven’t been offered a pension plan by an employer, had they been offered the opportunity to join a scheme. Governmental policies enforcing pension plan provision at every workplace could generate a major impact on aggregate participation rates. This potential success does not seem to be conditional on the existence of mechanisms imposed by law concerning the way workers are enrolled. Chapter 2 examines the effect of workplace pension schemes provision and participation on other individual financial savings, such as personal pension plans and financial assets. It exploits the variability in workplace pension scheme provision and membership induced by the employer’s payroll size as an identification strategy. No evidence is found that providing employees with access to workplace pension schemes would make them less likely to save through non-pension financial instruments. These results support the enforcement of the universal provision of workplace pension schemes as a national policy to improve financial preparation for retirement. Chapter 3 builds on the literature of the economic role of home production of goods and services at retirement. The literature usually restricts the explanation of retirees’ heterogeneous attitudes towards home production to gender differences or social norms related to couples’ division of labour. The present study provides novel evidence that non-cognitive skills in the form of personality traits explain the heterogeneous reallocation of time and consumption that occurs during a transition from the labour market to retirement.

The impact of population ageing on the social budgets of the future is a phenomenon confronting many of the world's wealthiest and most advanced nations. The impending retirement of the 'baby boomers' has raised concerns about the inadequacy of budgetary frameworks (both conceptual and real) to fulfil the financial commitments of demographically sensitive programs, namely old age pensions. Pension schemes represent, by far, the largest social welfare commitment of first world nations. Old age pensions are also demographically sensitive. Furthermore, pension systems play a crucial role in alleviating poverty, in recognising the previous contribution of an individual and in maintaining of the social and economic wellbeing of democratic polities. The financial stability of pension schemes and the ability of governments to meet future commitments will become significant issues of public policy as the pressures from population ageing intensify. Yet, committing resources, or budgeting, for longer-term pressures is an inherently problematic exercise both from an intellectual and a practical perspective. For long-term resourcing to be successful it requires perfect foresight and a level of political commitment that typically eludes most politicians and governments. Longer or medium-term budgetary pressures are often ignored or avoided until they impact on the immediate chances of either fiscal or electoral success. As such, societies face the prospect of looming financial burdens, but only have a box of short-term tools at their disposal and a limited body of scholarship to guide them through this ticking political 'time bomb'. This research tackles a significant omission in the existing literature on budgeting, public policy and social welfare, by proposing a conceptual framework for the anticipation, conceptualisation and analysis of future budget pressures. In doing so, it brings together analytical frameworks of government budgeting and social policy from a number of disciplinary areas and weaves them into a conceptual framework that allows for diagnostic and prescriptive analysis of budgetary pressures within a particular policy/spending area. The framework is also compatible with existing budgetary frameworks and decision-making processes. Through the analysis of the old age pension systems in Australia, Canada and Sweden this thesis makes an important contribution to the understanding of how demographic transition will impact on the future stability of pension schemes. The thesis contends that ageing populations will place significant pressure on each pillar of the pension system to meet its future financial commitments. This pressure will, in turn, have important implications for national budgetary processes and old age pension policy over the coming decades. In particular, governments will be required to implement a range of techniques that sit both within and beyond the traditional bounds of most budget processes. It will be imperative for researchers to explore the complexities and political possibilities of budget reform and to search for ways in which the longer-term needs of society can be adequately satisfied through the budget process.

Thesis (DTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-193). Also available online.

Universiẗat der Bundeswehr, Diss--München, 2008. / Literaturverz. S. [373] - 385.

Acknowledging the population aging trend, the urbanization process, and also the old-age security challenges facing rural migrant workers, this study sets out to explore and make theoretical sense of the pension policy process for rural migrant workers, through a case study in Beijing. Applying the stage model of the policymaking process, and an equitable-effective-efficient evaluative framework, an inquiry frame is constructed to formulate research questions theoretically and to facilitate the whole study. Mixed methods integrating quantitative and qualitative research were adopted to achieve the stated purpose. The secondary data yielded by a random sampling survey (N=3,024) were employed to provide a contextual base, and to examine what factors are influencing rural migrant worker choices and participation in pension schemes, through a multivariate Probit regression method. The effect of pension program on consumption smoothing and income redistribution, reflected by pension replacement rates, are explored through actuarial models. Based on the findings of a quantitative study, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were carried out with 22 rural migrant workers, 6 governmental officials, 5 scholars and 5 human resource managers in Beijing. Through prolonged immersion in the research site, qualitative research further addresses the mechanisms and factors functioning within the policymaking process. Merging mixed methods utilizing the stages model of policy process, this study has been able to make discoveries not reported in previous studies. This study is of considerable significance, as it contributes novel insights and concepts into understanding the dynamics of the policy process in the case study of rural migrant worker pension provision in China. First, in response to the inquiry frame, it establishes an analytical framework to uncover the underlying policymaking process, as well as the mechanisms and factors functioning within each stage. In the agenda setting stage, it is the central government which can initiate the agenda setting process for rural migrant workers. At the same time, however, local governments are driven by their own interests and compelled by the central government’s desire to get pension issues on the agenda. It is indicated that decentralization, centralization and incrementalism are functioning together in policy formulation and adoption. From both the micro and macro perspectives, this study identifies what factors are contributing to the gap between policy design and implementation. Guided by a preset three-Es framework, the whole policy process and its (potential) impacts are evaluated. Second, throughout the whole study, an interest is displayed through its analysis in rural migrant workers' situations, needs and opinions. It is found that governments are playing an overwhelmingly decisive role in policy making, that rural migrant workers' voices are largely unheard, and that powers are concentrated in unrepresentative hands. Policy suggestions on moving toward a democratic policy process are then discussed. Finally, this study further proposes a package of concrete policy implications to systematically address these practical policy issues. This package mainly covers the household registration system, the sandwich generation, preservation of pension rights, policy transparency and publicity, policies being moderately mandated, and particular social welfare programs. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Purpose of this study is to identify and to evaluate the main trends in the development of old-age pensions and sickness benefits schemes (by designing social insurance system models) and to determine the possible ways how to increase the efficiency in consumption smoothing policy and how to increase the financial sustainability of the old-age and sickness insurance schemes. This study searches for answers to the questions: how to maintain the consumption opportunities of beneficiaries, how to maintain a balance between the contributions paid and benefits received (the balance between the price paid and goods received), how to reduce the risk of budget deficit explosion and how to maintain the consumption opportunities of beneficiaries and insured. Consumption smoothing analysis focuses on the identity between the contributions paid and benefits received, on the analysis of replacement rates, on the analysis of pensioners to insured ratio (and on the possibilities of interpretation the analysis provide). The study determined the cycles of Lithuanian social insurance system development, examined and evaluated three different pensions' indexation policies, examined and evaluated the utility and performance of second pillar pension funds and carried out the study of possibilities of raising the efficiency in Lithuanian sickness benefits scheme. This study helps to deeper the understanding of how population aging affects the economy and provides the materials for future... [to full text] / Disertacijos tikslas – sudarant socialinio draudimo sistemos modelius, nustatyti ir išanalizuoti svarbiausias senatvės pensijų ir laikinojo nedarbingumo išmokų raidos tendencijas, atsižvelgiant į jas, pagrįsti efektyvumo ir tvarumo didinimo galimybes senatvės ir laikinojo nedarbingumo socialinio draudimo išmokų programose (srityse). Disertacijoje ieškoma atsakymų į klausimus: kaip palaikyti išmokų gavėjų vartojimo galimybes, kaip išlaikyti pusiausvyrą tarp sumokėtų įmokų ir gautų išmokų (pusiausvyra tarp sumokėtos kainos ir gautos prekių apimties), kaip sumažinti socialinio draudimo biudžeto deficito atsiradimo riziką ir palaikyti dirbančių asmenų ir išmokų gavėjų vartojimo galimybes. Vartojimo galimybių palaikymo efektyvumo įvertinimas apima tapatumo tarp sumokėtų įmokų ir gautų išmokų analizę, pakeitimo normos analizę, išmokų gavėjų ir dirbančių asmenų santykio analizę, šių rodiklių ir sąryšių interpretacijos atskleidžiamas galimybes. Disertacijoje nustatyti Lietuvos socialinio draudimo sistemos raidos ciklai, išnagrinėti ir įvertinti trys išmokų indeksavimo variantai, įvertintos antros pakopos kaupiamųjų pensijų fondų sistemos galimybės ir veiklos rezultatai, atliktas laikinojo nedarbingumo išmokų sistemos efektyvumo didinimo tyrimas. Šis darbas padeda geriau suprasti visuomenės senėjimo padarinius ir numatyti priemones būsimų procesų reguliavimui.

Canada's public pension programs have raised seniors' incomes, but have not succeeded in lifting some, especially single women, above the Low Income Cut-Off. Old Age Security (OAS) may need structural reforms, due to its nearly universal nature and its use of an individual income test. Many single women rely on OAS as their main income source, though demographic trends may lead to reductions in the program. Relevant research around these issues is discussed and policy options are suggested. Each option is simulated using the Social Policy Simulation Database and Model and the distributional impacts are analyzed. Removing the income test would increase income inequality and low-income rates. Reducing the income threshold for the test would decrease these rates. Changing to a family income test is also examined. Given the costs involved, it would be difficult to make large improvements for single senior women by reforming OAS alone.