What Can Countries in Other Regions Learn from Social Security Reform in Latin America?

Gill, Indermit S.; Ozer, Ceren; Tatucu, Radu

dc.creator	Gill, Indermit S.
dc.creator	Ozer, Ceren
dc.creator	Tatucu, Radu
dc.date	2012-03-30T07:12:33Z
dc.date	2012-03-30T07:12:33Z
dc.date	2008-03-01
dc.date.accessioned	2023-02-18T19:40:11Z
dc.date.available	2023-02-18T19:40:11Z
dc.identifier	World Bank Research Observer
dc.identifier	1564-6971
dc.identifier	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4415
dc.identifier.uri	http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/249900
dc.description	About a dozen countries in Latin America have enacted reforms that include elements being contemplated elsewhere, including the partial privatization of social security. It is not easy to draw universal lessons for social security reform from the experience of countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, however, where sizeable public pension systems went bankrupt before the populations aged, mainly because of mismanagement. Most developing economies have much smaller social security systems. Relatively well-managed systems in industrial countries face problems that are long term in nature and have been brought about by an aging population. The experiences of Latin America nevertheless offer some general lessons for countries in other parts of the world. These lessons relate to changes in labor market incentives accompanying reforms and how workers react to them, government actions that have met with success in managing the transition to funded pensions, and the expectations of individuals from social security systems. Latin America's reforms suggest that the most effective approach is to keep payroll taxes low, governments solvent, and social security systems focused on providing reasonable insurance against poverty in old age.
dc.publisher	World Bank
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
dc.rights	World Bank
dc.subject	capital markets
dc.subject	consumption smoothing
dc.subject	contingent liabilities
dc.subject	financial institutions
dc.subject	financial instrument
dc.subject	fiscal deficits
dc.subject	government involvement
dc.subject	income security
dc.subject	instrument
dc.subject	insurance
dc.subject	international bank
dc.subject	labor market
dc.subject	missing markets
dc.subject	old-age income
dc.subject	pension
dc.subject	pension reform
dc.subject	pension reforms
dc.subject	pension system
dc.subject	pension systems
dc.subject	pensions
dc.title	What Can Countries in Other Regions Learn from Social Security Reform in Latin America?
dc.type	Journal Article
dc.type	Journal Article
dc.coverage	Latin America & Caribbean
dc.coverage	Brazil
dc.coverage	Chile
dc.coverage	Bolivia
dc.coverage	Argentina