Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pensions – Government policy'

This study aims to understand the factors and dynamics that influenced a major social policy change. This is undertaken by unravelling the policymaking processes involved in the largest public pension scheme in Korea, the National Pension System (NPS). Changes to the NPS followed a very different direction to other expansionary welfare developments either in Korea or in similar East Asian welfare systems. This research set out to explain how and why this happened. This is examined via a case study approach with a particular focus on the role of policy actors. This provides an analysis of this single policy change across three time periods, which are characterised by different political and economic regimes: authoritarian rule; democratisation in the midst of a financial crisis; and finally a democracy in recovery from the financial crisis. Data was gained from 44 interviews with the actual policymakers and major policy actors involved, and was complemented by extensive archival data. The findings suggest that, first, although authoritarian governments in Korea may pursue social policy to harness economic development in order to legitimise their non-democratic rule, subtle yet crucial policy competition can still exist among key policy actors. Second, democratisation does not necessarily lead to a dominant view favouring welfare system expansion. Third, new major policy actors - strengthened by a democratic, centre-left government - may not always favour an expansive welfare system. The analysis suggests that, despite the emergence of an increased range and number of policy actors as the democracy matured, there was a marked continuity in policy development in the case of the NPS. Key policy actors pursued a reform in line with liberal economic policy that had been the dominant tendency during the authoritarian era. This suggests that the major mechanism contributing to this continuity was the role of a persistent and powerful epistemic policy community, members of which continued to influence policymaking throughout its development. The conclusion points to how incremental changes in the pension system led to the path dependency of the original policy ideas. We suggest that future research could apply a similar analytical approach to understanding change processes in various policy domains and to other East Asian welfare systems.

El envejecimiento de la población, una baja tasa de natalidad y la inminente jubilación de la generación “baby-boom” han aumentado preocupación para la estabilidad del sistema de pensiones en España. Según muchos estudios, el sistema de pensiones va a sufrir un déficit en el año 2030. Esta tesis investiga si la inmigración puede ayudar a evitar una futura crisis de pensiones y ofrece otras soluciones que en combinación con la inmigración pueden asegurar la estabilidad del sistema de pensiones en el largo plazo. Population aging, a low birthrate, and the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation has increased concern for the stability of the pension system in Spain. According to studies, the pension system will incur a deficit in 2030. This thesis examines to what extent immigration can help avoid a future pension crisis and offers other solutions that, in combination with a favorable immigration policy, can ensure the stability of the pension system in the long run.

Thesis (LLM. (Development and Management Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013
This mini-dissertation discusses South African social security and retirement reforms that will be used as guidelines towards promulgation of the new Pension Funds Act which will incorporate both private and public pensions. These proposals have been highlighted in the Retirement Reform Discussion Paper issued by National Treasury in 2004 and the Social Security and Retirement Reform paper, issued by both National Treasury and Department of Social Development, 2007. Further, the recent discussion papers entitled ‘Strengthening Retirement Savings and a Safer Financial Sector to Serve South Africa Better’ published in 2011 and 2012 respectively have strengthened social security and retirement reforms debate in South Africa. This mini-dissertation will incorporate both social security and retirement reforms.

This thesis focuses on the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund, and its linkage to the Norwegian foreign policy. The Kingdom of Norway is usually presented as a role model of a Nordic welfare state. Nevertheless, nothing of this would be possible without oil discovery on the Norwegian offshore in 1969. This thesis debates about possible oil discovery impacts on Norwegian foreign policy throughout the time and tries to analyse and elaborate on major foreign policy challenges. It tries to define whether the Norwegian foreign policy followed Norwegian investment interests and shifted policy's direction since the establishment of the Government Pension or not. Furthermore, the Government Pension Fund -- Global is not intended to be used as a foreign policy instrument. However, some information indicates the contrary. Thesis attempts to answer the question from a wider perspective.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Very little attention has been paid in South Africa to the situations where grandmothers have become surrogate parents to their grandchildren and other vulnerable children who have been left destitute due to the HIV/Aids epidemic. These women, who are in great need of support are not directly factored into Aids-related policy and care strategies, even though they play a vital role in assuming the roles of surrogate parents to their grandchildren. Clearly elderly women are valuable resources and are both crucial and valuable for the role they play in the care of both Aids sufferers and Aids orphans. Grandmothers who assume such care-giving roles are not receiving specific and targeted support from government structures. Instead they only benefit peripherally from the legislation within the jurisdiction of Department of Social Development and the programs that are established by them. This study determined where government social and welfare polices can improve the quality of life of black female pensioners who are taking care of their orphaned grandchildren and other vulnerable children. Policy makers need to recognise that grandmothers are increasingly obliged to assume care-giving responsibilities for dying adult children and later for orphans, when their own physical and cognitive abilities may be declining. Instead of using their state pensions to enjoy their old age and spend their money on looking after their health, proper housing etc., black female pensioners are forced to assume additional responsibilities in looking after orphaned grandchildren and other vulnerable children who require food, clothing, proper housing, education etc. Such expenses imply that their pensions are not put to their intended uses. Due to their advanced age they find it increasingly difficult to earn income to support young children. Until now the South African government has done little to support older women who find themselves in such precarious circumstances and to recognise their invaluable contributions. Various recommendations are made in the report to improve this situation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Baie min aandag is tot dusver nog in Suid-Afrika geskenk aan die omstandighede waar grootmoeders hulself bevind in die posisie van surrogaat ouer vir hul kleinkinders en ander kwesbare kinders wat haweloos gelaat is as gevolg van die HIVNigs epidemie. Hierdie vroue wat ondersteuning dringend nodig het, is nie regstreeks in berekening gebring by die verskeie Vigs beleide en ander versorginstrategiee en maatreels nie, al speel hulle 'n beslissende rol as surrogaat ouers vir hulle kleinkinders. Dit is duidelik dat bejaarde vroue 'n waardevolle hulpbron is en 'n onskatbare en onmisbare rol speel by die versorging van sowel Vigs Iyers as kinders wat weens Vigs ouerloos is. Grootmoeders wat hierdie versorgingsrolle aanvaar, ontvang geen spesifieke en doelgerigte ondersteuning van regeringstrukture nie. Instede daarvan trek hulle net voordeel uit wetgewing binne die jurisdiksie van Department van Openbare Welsyn en die programme wat daaruit mag voortvloei. Hierdie studie het vas gestel hoe die bestaande open bare en welsynsbeleide aangepas kan word om die lewenskwalitiet van swart vroulike pensioenarise wat vir hul ouerlose kleinkinders en ander kwesbare kinders sorg, te verbeter. Beleidmakers moet besef dat grootmoeders toenemend verplig word om om te sien na die versorging van hul eie sterwende volwasse kinders en mettertyd die versoging van dieselfde gestorwenes se kinders wat wees agtergelaat word. Hierdie toedrag van sake ontvou in 'n stadium wanneer hierdie vroue se eie fisiese krag en kognitiewe vaardighede waarskynlik reeds aan die afneem is. Instede daarvan dat hierdie vroue die staatspensioen gebruik om hul oudag te geniet en om te sien na hulle eie gesondheid, behoorlike behuising edm., is swart vroulike pensioenarisse verplig om hierdie beperkte fondse aan te wend vir die versorging, voeding, behuising en onderrig van hul ouerlose kleinkinders en ander kwesbare kinders. Sulke onkostes impliseer dat hul pensioen nie aangewend word vir die doel waarvoor dit ingestel is nie. Weens hul hoe ouderdom is dit vir hierdie vroue al hoe moeiliker om 'n inkomste te genereer om vir jong kinders te sorgo Tot nog toe het die Suid-Afrikaanse regering weinig gedoen om ouer vroue wat hulself in hierdie benarde omstandighede bevind, te ondersteun of om hul onskatbare bydrae te erken. Verskeie voorstelle word in hierdie verslag gemaak om die situasie te verbeter.

This study explores the changing nature of filial piety in contemporary society in rural China. With the economic, social and political upheavals that followed the Revolution, can 'great peace under heaven' still be found for the rural Chinese family as in the traditional Confucian proverb,"make yourself useful, look after your family, look after your country, and all is peaceful under heaven"? This study explores this question, in terms not so much of financial prosperity, but of non-tangible cultural values of filial piety, changing familial and gender roles, and economic migration. In particular, it examines how macro level changes in economic, social and demographic policies have affected family life in rural China. The primary policies examined were collectivisation, the hukou registration system, marketization, and the One-Child policy. Ethnographic interviews reveal how migration has affected rural family structures beyond the usual quantifiable economic measures. Using the village of Meijia, Sichuan province, as a paradigmatic sample of family, where members have moved to work in the cities, leaving their children behind with the grandparents, the study demonstrates how migration and modernization are reshaping familial roles, changing filial expectations, reshuffling notions of care-taking, and transforming traditional views on the value of daughters and daughters-in-law. The study concludes that the choices families make around migration, child-rearing and elder-care cannot be fully explained by either an income diversification model or a survival model, but rather through notions of filial piety. Yet the concept of filial piety itself is changing, particularly in relation to gender and perceptions about the worth of daughters and the mother/ daughter-in-law relationship. Understanding these new family dynamics will be important for both policy planners and economic analysts.

Many South Africans may not have adequate retirement savings when they retire and this has the effect of a low income replacement ratio on retirement that may lead to a decrease in the standard of living of the retiree and in extreme cases the retiree becoming dependent on their family and the government. Owing to this trend of no or inadequate retirement savings, South Africa embarked on a retirement reform journey in 2004. The goal of this research is to determine whether the retirement reform mechanisms outlined by National Treasury would encourage individual retirement savings that should assist South Africans to achieve stability of income in their retirement. This research analysed the current retirement savings options and vehicles available for South Africans, the current tax incentives and disincentives and reviewed the proposed changes to tax incentives and disincentives during the accumulation phase of retirement savings and explained how these proposed tax incentives are harmonised for the accumulation phase of retirement. The research explained how National Treasury aims to limit pre-retirement withdrawals and how it intends to encourage the annuitisation of post-retirement benefits. The penultimate chapter of this research measured the effect (by making certain assumptions) of the changes proposed by National Treasury on the income replacement ratio of the retiree. Throughout the research comparisons were made between The OECD Roadmap for the good design of defined contribution pension plans and National Treasury’s proposals. This research did not directly address the effect of increased life expectancies on retirement savings or increases in youth unemployment and the effect that this may have on retirement savings. The effect of financial charges levied on retirement savings on the income replacement ratio of a retiree was also not explored. Furthermore, not all pension funds are regulated by the Pension Funds Act and how these pension funds can be brought within the purview of the Pension Funds Act was not investigated. Automatic enrolment of retirement savings for all employees in South Africa in retirement vehicles is a further research area that could be addressed.

Defence date: 21 January 2015
Examining Board: Professor Sven Steinmo, EUI (Supervisor); Professor Alexander H. Trechsel, EUI; Professor David Natali, University of Bologna; Professor Kent Weaver, Georgetown University.
This thesis deals with a broken promise: namely, a broken pension promise. Looking at Italy and Germany in particular, it tells a story that is fairly common to retirement systems across the OECD. Over the last forty years, pension institutions have been facing major economic and demographic challenges. This 'affordability crisis' has slowly eroded the confidence of large segments of the population in the old pension contract, while paving the way for the anti-welfare rhetoric and initiatives of more than a conservative policy entrepreneur. Cost containment reforms took root and clamped down on pension spending and, what is more, on public responsibility for individual welfare after quiescence. As a result, pension income is lower and riskier now than was expected when today's pensioners entered the labour market. Most notably, it will be even more meagre and uncertain for tomorrow's retirees. By comparing the Italian and German reform patterns, this thesis suggests that answering the puzzle requires focusing on two sets of interrelated transformations: the prominence of so-called 'systemic risks' and the changing ways of political representation. Risks hereby defined as 'systemic'first emerged in Western political economies in the 1970s, only to turn into a recurring malaise during the following decades (Streeck 2011). Unlike the risks central to the post-war welfare state model, they far outreach the individual level, being borne by the community or by society as a whole. Furthermore, those risks proved somehow resilient to traditional means of public intervention and management. Systemic risks, in sum, have originated a distinctive combination of functional and political effects, ultimately providing a functional as well as a political rationale to risk shifting reforms. Again, since the 1970s political representation has also changed. On the one side, the traditional mass party model has been replaced by new organisational forms, while new parties and party families have emerged, activating novel issues and cleavages. On the other side, industrial representation in the corporate arena changed as well, becoming less organised all over the industrialised world. Systemic risks, then, have further influenced transformations in both the electoral and the corporate arenas, further eroding the political consensus for expanding social responsibility and socialising risks. It was, in other words, the co-evolution of problems and politics (to put it in Kingdon's terms) to lead popular and strongly institutionalised pension systems to challenge the basic tenets of their pension promises, although this common story played out very differently across different countries as a result of the action of national institutional filters (policy legacies and the functioning of the electoral and corporate arenas).

Defence date: 28 November 2005
Examining board: Prof. Martin Rhodes (European University Institute, Florence) ; Prof. Manos Matsaganis (Athens University of Economics and Business) ; Prof. Colin Crouch (European University Institute, Florence) ; Prof. Maurizio Ferrera (Università degli Studi di Milano, Università L. Bocconi, Milan)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

碩士
中華大學
營建管理研究所
92
In recent years, the pensions in Chin-Jin wanted toward into the force management and making money. Not to conform to the laws of the pension’s regulations that not in force management. Caused serious problems during the rules of the pensions ask for legal. And the pensions over-developed also caused a lot of problems that damaged the environment. The research analysis the laws of pension, and investigate the situation of the Chin-Jin, to know using the laws of pension still can’t control the resource of the pensions over-developed and caused what kind of problems caused form pensions over-developed. Finally, the research using government position to solve the problems that pensions of developed apply for the government. The research suggest two levels suggestion as following： One： Specific classification pensions buildings with illegal architecture and conclude fine. Two：Add actual manger’s bouns or fine in laws. Three：The laws of pension must after the local government, actually analysis how actual building scale to fine the manger. Before central government anthorize the Nan-ton government.

Defence date: 26 June 1987
Examining board: Prof. Jean Blondel ; Prof. Maurizio Cotta ; Prof. Gosta Esping-Andersen ; Prof. Peter Flora ; Prof. Massimo Paci
First made available online: 14 September 2015

Gendered poverty among the elderly is a statistical fact. Previous studies have identified inequitable treatment of women and insufficient income for unattached elderly women among the most serious shortcomings of the retirement income system. Despite pension reform over the past decade, the gender gap has widened for elderly Canadians whose incomes fall below the poverty line. This thesis seeks to understand the relationship between the laws that govern Canada's retirement income system and the over-representation of elderly women among Canada's poor, and to explore why the retirement income system continues to deliver benefits in a manner that, though expressed in gender neutral language, is systemically unfair to women. The benefits of Canada's retirement income system may be accessed through workforce participation and, in a more limited way, through a spousal relationship. Familial ideology is used as the theoretical framework to examine the role of the laws that govern access to benefits in reinforcing and perpetuating assumptions about women that undermine their economic autonomy. This examination reveals that gendered economic inequality is embedded within Canada's retirement income system because it accepts the social and economic construction implicit in familial ideology of women as economically subordinate to, and dependent upon, men. The relationship between gender inequality and the two modes of delivery of retirement income benefits, during retirement as pension benefits and prior to retirement as tax subsidies that enhance taxpayers' opportunities to accumulate retirement savings, is also explored. A tax expenditure analysis exposes the bias against the economically disadvantaged (mostly women) inherent in delivering benefits as tax subsidies. Additionally, familial, public/private and restructuring ideologies are used as methodological tools to interrogate the reform process which, although ignoring gender issues, paradoxically deepened and compounded the systemic inequalities for women that existed prior to reform. The thesis concludes by offering suggestions for developing a progressive agenda for advancing gender equality within the retirement income system. The limitations of legal action as a strategy for implementing this type of agenda are discussed, and political action is designated as the most promising strategy for achieving progressive reform.

Awarded the 2011 'Research Prize of the German Pension Insurance Agency' (Berlin, 8 December 2011).
Defence date: 11 September 2010
Examining Board: Martin Kohli (EUI) (Supervisor), Fabrizio Bernardi (EUI) (Co-Supervisor), Hans-Peter Blossfeld (Otto Friedrich University, Bamberg), Bernhard Ebbinghaus (University of Mannheim)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
The goal of this dissertation is to enhance our understanding of the micro and macro level determinants of retirement timing in contemporary Western Europe. This objective is pursued by means of a statistical analysis of large-scale comparable survey data. In short, three points of emphasis characterize this study in comparison with previous research on the topic: 1) the focus on social stratification in terms of gender and class differentials; 2) the central attention paid to social norms of aging; and 3) the joint consideration of individual and country level mechanisms in explaining retirement timing. The review of the previous literature in the second chapter demonstrates that the currently available theoretical approaches by themselves are inappropriate for explaining social variability in retirement timing. Building on the life course paradigm and social class theory, I consequently outline a novel analytical framework for the study of differential retirement behavior. It can be characterized as a choice-within-constraints approach (chapter 3), which essentially focuses on differences between older workers in age norms and late-career opportunity structures, paying special attention on class and gender disparities. In the fourth chapter, I gather empirical evidence on international and individual differences in retirement age norms in Western Europe on the basis of data from the European Social Survey (ESS). Subsequently, I turn to examining actual retirement behavior in the fifth chapter. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) a series of event-history models is used to scrutinize the determining factors of retirement timing at the country and individual level variation. In chapters 6 and 7, two case studies on Germany and Spain examine the impact of pension legislation on social stratification in retirement in a detailed manner. The two country studies are based on ad-hoc module on the transition from work into retirement, which has been implemented in the respective national labor force surveys (Encuesta de la Población Activa (EPA) and Mikrozensus) of 2006.

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

Thesis (LLM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017
This dissertation deals with the inception of the office of the Pension Fund Adjudicator in South Africa with comparison with the United Kingdom and Australia. The challenges faced by the office of the Pension Fund Adjudicator are one element that advised the composition of this dissertation. South Africa is a well developing country that carries well developed laws, including, the laws that deals with the pension fund complaints and this dissertation shall analyse and unpack those laws and principles that deals with the pension fund complaints.

This research analyses the statistical relationship between income distribution and seven taxation and government expenditure components in Namibia using data from 1996-2016. The research is aimed at creating new knowledge on the research topic because no literature exists for Namibia. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration technique was employed to assess the long-run relationship between the dependent and independent variables in Eviews. The research findings indicated that there is no long-run relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. In the short-run, the research findings indicate that government expenditure on social pensions and government expenditure on education have a balancing effect on income distribution, while tax on products, corporate income tax and customs and excise duties have an unbalancing and/or worsening effect on income distribution. Based on these findings, tertiary education loans are recommended as opposed to grants to ensure sustainability of Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NASFAF). In adjusting corporate and value added taxes, the government is cautioned to avoid overburdening consumers and employees through tax shifting in the form of high prices of goods and services and low wages and benefits. A tax mix, tax discrimination and a hybrid of taxation and government expenditure components are strongly recommended to achieve a balance.
Economics
M. Com. (Economics)

碩士
國立中山大學
高階公共政策碩士班
106
Abstract At present, the labor insurance system designed in Taiwan offers retired labors to receive their pensions from two systems: labor insurance and labor pension when they retire. However, such fund investments, which met the international financial turmoil and the sluggish domestic economy, have experienced investment risks and fund losses. Therefore, when the government faces the expending financial gap of the labor pension funds, which may affect the national financial crisis, the government needs immediately to conduct a comprehensive review and reform the pension system. The purpose of this paper is to propose possible solutions to amend and improve the imperfect content of the labor pension system in Taiwan. The dissertation includes the analysis of the historical evolution of the labor pension system and the background changes of the institutional era, and the types of pension account operations. In addition, it also covers, the pay-as-you-go system, the fully-paid-ready system and the partial deposit-ready system, the definite dialing system, the nominal account system and other types of pension plans in the connotation of the system. From1980s to the present, a couple of oil crises, two subprime mortgage crises in the USA and European debt crisis triggered off the economic recession, the international financial crisis, and serious losses of fund investments. In order to avoid the financial bankruptcy of the funds, every country in the world has completed the amendment of retirement pension systems. This study aimed to explor the reform strategies from such developed countries as: the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, South Korea, Sweden, Hong Kong and Singapore. It, furthermore, compared the differences between Taiwan and these developed countries and would adopt their valuable experiences as references. Moreover, it would provide feasible solutions and suggestions after reviewing the pension reforms in different periods over these years in Taiwan, and analyzing and comparing the imbalances between the incomes and expenditures of the labor pension funds in recent years. Finally, the findings of this research indicated that the management mechanism of pension funds should be legalized by government administrative efficiency in order to promote the returns on investments by strengthening the fund management of professional fund managers from the top of sources. With reference to the "automatic joining" mechanism in the UK, the successfully expanded rate of workers volunteering for modifying the retirement pension scheme has ultimately raised the willingness of paying and establish a stable income for their retirement pension funds. The objective of pension reform is to better and improve the current system so that it can become sustainable for the purposes of ensuring the life security and economic support to those elderly workers after their retirement, and avoiding the serious problem of generation antagonism. In time, at least for one generation, there is no lack or worry of the payment of pensions. Keywords：labor insurance system, subprime mortgage crises in the USA, European debt crisis, returns on investments

碩士
國立政治大學
風險管理與保險學系
89
According to enact public employees pension regulations, the Taiwan public employee management board and supervisory board was established to perform the administration for the government employees pension plan. The management board is required by law to set up the funding policy and disclose the plan liabilities to the plan members annually. Since the financial soundness and compensation suitability of the pension scheme is directly related to the government productivity and competency, the funding schedule need to be guided carefully based on the sounded actuarial principle. In this study, statement No.27 of the government standard accounting board (GASB) employed in United States is examined to investigate the substantive funding policy and financial reporting. The financial reporting of the funding schedule for the public and the accrued liabilities disclosed in the balance sheet of the pevsion fund are also scrutinized. Finally explicit requirements for actuarial reporting and general actuarial principle for government employees pension plan are proposed.

Population aging is a global phenomenon occurring both in developed and less developed countries. While families are still playing an important role in providing support for elderly people, governments are also expanding their public old-age support programs in many societies. Public pensions are one of the major policy tools geared to social protection of the elderly. However, little is known about how the programs affect elders particularly in terms of their subjective well-being. Such effectiveness depends in part on the extent to which public pension income displaces or `crowds out' family elder support. Using the introduction of the Basic Old-Age Pension (BOAP), a non-contributory old-age pension in Korea, this dissertation examines the relationship among public support, family support, and life satisfaction of the elderly.

As an introductory chapter, chapter 1, "The continuing importance of children in relieving elder poverty: evidence from Korea," describes the actual financial status of elderly Koreans and the amount of financial support they receive from children. Analysis of the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing shows that almost 70 per cent of Koreans aged 65 or more years received financial transfers from children and that the transfers accounted for about a quarter of the average elder's income. While over 60 per cent of elders would be poor without private transfers, children's transfers substantially mitigate elder poverty, filling about one quarter of the poverty gap. Furthermore, children's transfers to low-income parents tend to be proportionally larger, so elder income inequality is reduced by the transfers. Over 40 per cent of elders lived with a child and co-residence helps reduce elder poverty.

Using the introduction of BOAP, chapter 2, "Does money buy happiness?: Evidence from a new government pension in Korea," assesses how the program affected elders' life satisfaction. Notably, this study adds valuable evidence to the literature of whether money buys happiness, a question of great interest but notoriously difficult to answer given the difficulties associated with isolating income as a causal factor. To make the causal inference, this chapter utilizes a difference-in-difference research design and analyzes longitudinal data from the Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS). Results show that BOAP did raise elders' life satisfaction: annual benefits of 1,000 kW, approximately 1,000 U.S. dollars, raised elders' life satisfaction by 0.16-0.22 of one standard deviation and the effect was statistically significant.

Chapter 3, "Public support crowds out family support: Evidence from a new government pension in Korea," investigates how public financial provision affects family support. In particular, the present study provides a novel estimate of crowd-out by BOAP by using a combined measure of financial support and in-kind support received from all adult children regardless of their co-residence status with elderly parents. This paper also examines the impact on co-residence and is the first quasi-experimental study on the crowd-out question using data from an Asian nation. Results from difference-in-difference analyses of the KReIS data show that every $1 from the pension led to a 30-cent drop in children's support, netting a 70-cent increase in elders' income. The impact on the likelihood of elders' co-residing with children was positive but not statistically significant.

By showing that Korean children still play a crucial role in providing financial old-age security, chapter 1 demonstrates how important it is for the Korean government to design old-age policies that preserve the incentives for private assistance. The second chapter suggests that, at least in the context of modern-day Korea, pensions do buy happiness, or at least satisfaction. This finding suggests that researchers and policymakers need to pay further attention to public pensions as a tool to intervene people's subjective well-being. Finally, chapter 3 confirms that crowd-out of family support does occur in Korea and that increases in income, more so than other factors, have a positive impact on elders' life satisfaction found in chapter 2. These findings may generalize to other rapidly changing societies with a strong family elder-support tradition and emerging public elder-support system.

Dissertation