Pension Reform in Europe: Process and Progress

by World Bank Group (Editor)

Few topics on the economic reform agenda attract more attention in countries throughout Western, Central, and Eastern Europe than pension reform. And there is hardly any other area in the European policy debate where reform progress has been more uneven between countries. The difference between need and outcome does not appear to reflect underlying reform pressures, so what are the causes this unevenness?'Pension Reform in Europe' represents a major attempt to solve this puzzle, with contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in economics and political sciences. This book shows the current stage of knowledge in the pension area, and indicates areas needing further research. The research should lead to a better understanding of process and progress of European pension reform, for the benefit of the reform agenda in Europe and other regions of the world.

210 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2003

About the author

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group. The bank is based in Washington, D.C. and provided around $61 billion in loans and assistance to "developing" and transition countries in the 2014 fiscal year. The bank's stated mission is to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity. Its five organizations are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank's (the IBRD and IDA's) activities are focused on developing countries, in fields such as human development (e.g. education, health), agriculture and rural development (e.g. irrigation and rural services), environmental protection (e.g. pollution reduction, establishing and enforcing regulations), infrastructure (e.g. roads, urban regeneration, and electricity), large industrial construction projects, and governance (e.g. anti-corruption, legal institutions development). The IBRD and IDA provide loans at preferential rates to member countries, as well as grants to the poorest countries. Loans or grants for specific projects are often linked to wider policy changes in the sector or the country's economy as a whole. For example, a loan to improve coastal environmental management may be linked to development of new environmental institutions at national and local levels and the implementation of new regulations to limit pollution, or not, such as in the World Bank financed constructions of paper mills along the Rio Uruguay in 2006.