Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:50:54.564Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public pension systems and distortions of intra-EU mobility: the Lodge Test*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2009

ROBERT FENGE  and
JAKOB VON WEIZSÄCKER
ROBERT FENGE
Affiliation:
University of Rostock, CESifo
JAKOB VON WEIZSÄCKER
Affiliation:
BRUEGEL, CESifo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse how national public pension systems can distort intra-EU movements of workers despite the existing totalization/proratization agreement. As a benchmark test, we propose the ‘Lodge Test’ of mobility neutrality: Two identical individuals who swap countries and jobs should receive the same pension claims in either of the two pension systems compared to a situation where each would have stayed at home. Using the Lodge Test, we identify those features of national pension formulae that are systematically mobility distorting and discuss possible remedies.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 263 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Breyer, F. and Kolmar, M. (2002) Are national pension systems efficient if labor is (im)perfectly mobile? Journal of Public Economics, 83: 347–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenge, R. and Werding, M. (2004) Ageing and the tax implied in public pension schemes: simulations for selected OECD countries. Fiscal Studies, 25: 159–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holzmann, R., Koettl, J., and Chernetsky, T. (2005) Portability regimes of pension and health care benefits for international migrants: an analysis of issues and good practices. Paper commissioned by the Global Commission on International Migration, Social Protection Discussion Paper, No. 0519, World Bank.Google Scholar
Homburg, S. and Richter, W. (1993) Harmonizing public debt and pension schemes in the European Community. Journal of Economics, 7: 51–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jousten, A. and Pestieau, P. (2002) Labor mobility, redistribution and pension reform in the European Union. In Feldstein, M. and Siebert, H. (eds) Social Security Pension Reform in Europe, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 85–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, J. (2003) Pension portability – is this Europe's future? An analysis of the United States as a test case', AARP.Google Scholar
von Weizsäcker, J. (2003) The Hayek pension: an efficient minimum pension to complement the welfare state. CESifo WP 1064.CrossRefGoogle Scholar