Pension systems and income inequality among the elderly in Europe

Neugschwender, Jörg

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URL:	https://madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/41262
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-412628
Document Type:	Doctoral dissertation
Year of publication:	2016
Place of publication:	Mannheim
University:	Universität Mannheim
Evaluator:	Ebbinghaus, Bernhard
Date of oral examination:	25 May 2016
Publication language:	English
Institution:	Außerfakultäre Einrichtungen > Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences- CDSS (Social Sciences)
Subject:	300 Social sciences, sociology, anthropology
Subject headings (SWD):	Rente , Altersversorgung , Ungleichheit , Armut , Vergleichende Soziologie , Einkommen , Einkommensverteilung , Alter
Keywords (English):	Pension , pension system , inequality , poverty , comparative study , income , income distribution , income inequality , old age
Abstract:	Pension system regulation has grown to a complex field of study; many actors have been setting up institutional arrangements, which serve two main purposes: poverty prevention and income maintenance in old age. This doctoral dissertation addresses four major research questions: Why is there cross-national variation of income received by the elderly? What implications do different institutional pathways of pension systems have for the income situation? What role do non-public pension systems play in the income-mix and for the development of inequalities? Which developments can be observed in the public-private income mix and generosity of the pension system? This monograph is a cross-national study of past and current pension system legislation and its relevance for the current income mix of the elderly; it is structured in two main blocks. A first part outlines a comprehensive framework that points to within- and between-country variation in old-age income security, which is an outcome of pension system characteristics, labour market attachment, and living arrangements. A second part focuses on comparative country-case studies in Europe that evaluate the interactions between specific pension systems characteristics set up by the various actors involved in pension system design. A specific emphasis is placed on the diversity of second-tier schemes and the growing relevance of multipillar pension systems.