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Three paths to more encompassing supplementary pensions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2017

MARGARITA GELEPITHIS
MARGARITA GELEPITHIS*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In pension systems characterized by low or moderate state benefits, reliance on voluntary private pensions creates a dualism of access to adequate retirement income. This dualism is expected to persist over time. Yet while some private-heavy pension systems continue to rely on dualising voluntarism, since the 1980s most have introduced regulatory reforms to make private pensions more encompassing. This paper uses fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to identify three paths to the regulatory extension of private pension coverage – collective self-regulation, top-down regulation in Continental Europe, and top-down regulation in Anglophone countries. A case study of the UK then shows how it is that unions have been able to bring about more encompassing private pensions in Anglophone countries, despite strong employer opposition, weak formal influence in policymaking, and a weak institutional capacity for collective self-regulation.

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Article
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Journal of Social Policy , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , July 2018 , pp. 603 - 623
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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