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This paper focuses on the nexus between pension funds' balance sheet liabilities, reflecting their age profile and payments obligations, and the investment behavior and costs of these funds. The context of the analysis is the stringent regulatory framework and the highly fragmented and heterogeneous pension fund landscape in Switzerland. Detailed data from the Swiss Pension Statistic are analyzed using multivariate OLS-regressions. The evidence shows that a younger age structure and lower short-term benefits payouts are related to a higher share of equities and lower real estate holdings. Legal form, pension plan type, and size are important for administrative costs. The findings support the view that aging may lead to increased risk aversion and thus to a lower engagement of institutional investors in equities.

Financial Risk Management --- Labor --- Public Finance --- Demography --- Social Security and Public Pensions --- International Financial Markets --- Governmental Property --- Economics of the Elderly --- Economics of the Handicapped --- Non-labor Market Discrimination --- Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits --- Private Pensions --- Pensions --- Finance --- Public finance & taxation --- Population & demography --- Pension spending --- Asset allocation --- Government asset management --- Aging --- Asset-liability management --- Finance, Public --- Population aging --- Switzerland --- Pension trusts --- Finance. --- Economic aspects

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Austria has probably the world’s highest pension expenditures relative to its economic size, largely because of the generosity of its pension system. This paper examines the institutional setup of the Austrian pension system and projects its future development based on current policies. The projection results show a swift financial worsening. With the already high level of contribution rates, pension expenditures, and budget transfers, the results underscore the need for reform. Much of this reform can, however, be achieved by maintaining the structure of the system and adjusting some of its key parameters. The paper outlines options for such a reform.

Labor --- Public Finance --- Demography --- Social Security and Public Pensions --- Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits --- Private Pensions --- Economics of the Elderly --- Economics of the Handicapped --- Non-labor Market Discrimination --- Retirement --- Retirement Policies --- Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General --- Pensions --- Population & demography --- Labour --- income economics --- Pension spending --- Aging --- Wages --- Expenditure --- Population and demographics --- Population aging --- Austria --- Income economics

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Rising longevity, falling fertility rates, and the retirement of the baby boom generation will substantially raise age-related government spending in most advanced and many emerging market countries. This paper assesses the evolution of fiscal sustainability for each of the G-7 countries using two standard primary gap indicators. The estimated fiscal adjustment required to ensure long-run fiscal sustainability is substantial for all G-7 countries. In particular, ensuring fiscal sustainability would require an average improvement in the primary balance of about 4 percentage points of GDP. While the overall adjustment required to achieve long-run fiscal sustainability in G-7 countries is large, there are significant growth benefits to putting public finances on a sustainable footing in the near term versus delayed adjustment.

Macroeconomics --- Public Finance --- Demography --- Fiscal Policy --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General --- Debt --- Debt Management --- Sovereign Debt --- Economics of the Elderly --- Economics of the Handicapped --- Non-labor Market Discrimination --- Public finance & taxation --- Population & demography --- Fiscal stance --- Expenditure --- Fiscal sustainability --- Public debt --- Aging --- Fiscal policy --- Expenditures, Public --- Debts, Public --- Population aging --- Japan --- Economic aspects

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Over the coming decades, demographic developments will lead to a significant increase in public outlays on pensions and health care, relative to national income. This study extends earlier work by considering the adverse effects of taxation on the determinants of economic growth -- in particular, investment, productivity growth, and labor force participation. Available empirical evidence suggests that these adverse effects could well be sizable, and that conventional estimates of the adverse effects of population aging probably severely underestimate their impact on the public finances and economic performance. The paper uses stochastic simulations to examine the robustness of the results to changes in parameter values. It also provides quantitative simulations of various reform options, including mainly an increase in the effective retirement age and flanking labor market measures.

Labor --- Public Finance --- Demography --- Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits --- Private Pensions --- Social Security and Public Pensions --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General --- Economics of the Elderly --- Economics of the Handicapped --- Non-labor Market Discrimination --- National Government Expenditures and Health --- Pensions --- Public finance & taxation --- Population & demography --- Pension spending --- Expenditure --- Aging --- Health care spending --- Population and demographics --- Expenditures, Public --- Population aging --- France

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Public pension expenditure in Italy has been growing rapidly in the last three decades and is now among the highest in industrialized countries. Despite recent reforms, benefits remain generous by international standards and, unless additional measures are taken, the financial situation of the system will deteriorate in the long term. The paper reviews the current system, its history, and its prospects, and examines through simulations the long-run effects of alternative pension reform options.

Labor --- Public Finance --- Demography --- Social Security and Public Pensions --- Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits --- Private Pensions --- Economics of the Elderly --- Economics of the Handicapped --- Non-labor Market Discrimination --- Retirement --- Retirement Policies --- National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs --- Pensions --- Population & demography --- Labour --- income economics --- Pension spending --- Aging --- Pension reform --- Expenditure --- Population and demographics --- Population aging --- Italy --- Income economics