Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / Vita. Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Legislative changes in the 1980s and 1990s have meant that non-state pensions are becoming increasingly important in pension provision in Britain. The introduction of Approved Personal Pension Plans (APPS) as a legal second-tier pension option has meant that potential pension alternatives have increased and now consist of SERPS, occupational pension schemes and APPS. These alternatives are not, however, similarly beneficial. Occupational pensions are usually by far the better option. It is precisely because women have been disadvantaged in occupational pensions in the past that so many older women live in poverty today. Using secondary analysis of the General Household Survey for 1988-90 the research shows that women of employable age are less likely to have occupational pensions or personal pension plans than men and this is largely because of the impact of childcare responsibilities on their labour market positions. However, the generally disadvantaged position of women in the labour market means even women without caring responsibilities are disadvantaged in pension welfare. In addition the research demonstrates that differences among women in relation to labour market variables as well as ethnicity, marital status and child dependency status means that women cannot be treated as an homogeneously disadvantaged group, and consequently some women are more disadvantaged than others in their pension provision. Interviews with 45 women aged 40-59 reveal that, for the women interviewed, although most women wanted an independent pension income, many could not afford, or were ineligible for, their desired schemes. The research also shows that married women cannot, even if they wanted to, rely on husbands for financial welfare in pensionable years as a polarisation of couples between those where both have a pension and where neither has a pension means that women are less likely to have a pension if their husband does not have a non-state pension. The research concludes that women's poverty in older age will increase, as concentration on non-state pension provision means that women will be increasingly disadvantaged.

This thesis explores the economic issues associated with the payout phase where a defined contribution (DC) retirement arrangement is adopted. In particular, the role of annuities in providing a retirement income is examined as well as insurance they provide against retirement risks such as inflation, longevity and rate of return volatility. A comprehensive money’s worth calculation based on a Australian population cohort mortality table shows that overall, Australian nominal and inflation indexed life annuities provide relatively good value for money. Although relative to annuities sold in the US and the UK they do suffer from relatively high adverse selection costs, which could in turn reduce demand. In addition, the presence of a government provided safety net pension could also result in low demand for annuities. These two issues suggest that government intervention may be warranted to ensure retirees have access to affordable private insurance to protect their retirement benefit. This could take the form of mandating an annuity purchase at retirement. However, which annuity should be mandated is not well understood. This is an important question as there are many alternative annuity designs, each providing different degrees of retirement risk protection to an individual. This thesis uses numerical simulations to empirically analyse the costs and benefits of mandating alternative annuities from both an individual and government’s perspectives to determine optimal annuity design. A model is used to estimate the value of payouts over time from various types of annuities across a range of retirement benefits. A means tested safety net pension is assumed to exist. Two stochastic variables — inflation and the risky rate of return, are simultaneously used to show how the annuity payouts react to theses changes, highlighting the insurance features of various annuities. Consumer preferences for the various annuities are estimated based on tolerance to risk. The variable annuity dominates the utility rankings under two conditions: -- when the relative risk aversion is low and a safety net payment isn’t available, and when the relative risk aversion is high and a safety net payment is made. Otherwise the CPI indexed annuity has the highest ranking. Sensitivity analysis shows that the results presented here are robust to a number of alternative assumptions about the key variables.

Project (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Project (Dept. of Gerontology) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

This thesis explores the economic issues associated with the payout phase where a defined contribution (DC) retirement arrangement is adopted. In particular, the role of annuities in providing a retirement income is examined as well as insurance they provide against retirement risks such as inflation, longevity and rate of return volatility. A comprehensive money’s worth calculation based on a Australian population cohort mortality table shows that overall, Australian nominal and inflation indexed life annuities provide relatively good value for money. Although relative to annuities sold in the US and the UK they do suffer from relatively high adverse selection costs, which could in turn reduce demand. In addition, the presence of a government provided safety net pension could also result in low demand for annuities. These two issues suggest that government intervention may be warranted to ensure retirees have access to affordable private insurance to protect their retirement benefit. This could take the form of mandating an annuity purchase at retirement. However, which annuity should be mandated is not well understood. This is an important question as there are many alternative annuity designs, each providing different degrees of retirement risk protection to an individual. This thesis uses numerical simulations to empirically analyse the costs and benefits of mandating alternative annuities from both an individual and government’s perspectives to determine optimal annuity design. A model is used to estimate the value of payouts over time from various types of annuities across a range of retirement benefits. A means tested safety net pension is assumed to exist. Two stochastic variables — inflation and the risky rate of return, are simultaneously used to show how the annuity payouts react to theses changes, highlighting the insurance features of various annuities. Consumer preferences for the various annuities are estimated based on tolerance to risk. The variable annuity dominates the utility rankings under two conditions: -- when the relative risk aversion is low and a safety net payment isn’t available, and when the relative risk aversion is high and a safety net payment is made. Otherwise the CPI indexed annuity has the highest ranking. Sensitivity analysis shows that the results presented here are robust to a number of alternative assumptions about the key variables.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Gothenburg, 2008. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement and abstract inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-171).