Latest trends in assessing pension reforms

Abstract

Old age pension provision constantly creates an increasing financial pressure on most of the EU countries, therefore some of European countries are in a further stage or reforming pension system, others already completed transformation and became an object of analysis and surveillance for researchers and policymakers. Over the years attitude towards the role of pension system in economy changed significantly from simple provision of retirement benefits and income distribution to indisputable contribution to a very wide range of economic, social and other processes. Nowadays pension system is supposed to be the instrument of impact and all reforms, even parametric, have a consequent effect on work and tax incentives, welfare, consumption, demographic indicators, etc. Some of the results are well studied, e.g. income distribution, other outcomes, for example society’s radicalisation, only recently have become a subject of research. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of latest scientific approaches to the estimation of various effects of pension system’s reform including the influence of parametric corrections. Scientific papers of Latvian and foreign researchers have been considered, systemized and characterised according to the main idea of research. The study provides conclusions on the extent of research on different effects and points out the most actual and up-to-date directions of scientific activities. The results of this study can be implemented for identifying the most untapped area of research, for further investigation and for the assessment of reform from the perspective of the newest scientific achievements.