市場指向・資産ベースの年金改革 : スウェーデンの年金改革から学ぶ  [in Japanese] Market-Oriented and Asset-Based Pension Reform : Lessens From Swedish Experiences  [in Japanese]

The new Swedish pension system may be understood as a well-devised policy mix or system mix. Three systems are allocated to the achievement of different objectives. Firstly, there is the guarantee pension and the pension for the handicapped, which are not suitable for management by the actuarial principle and the market system . They are separated from the earnings-related pension. The Government is to finance the guarantee pensions by tax revenue. The main purpose is to ensure that the basic needs of all pensioners are met equally. Secondly, there is the earnings-related pension, which is functionally privatized and managed by the actuarial principle of the market system. This principle is necessary to keep the benefits = costs relationship clear and to make the system work efficiently. The financial position is governed exclusively by the relationship between assets and liabilities.Thirdly, there is the financially adjustment system, which was introduced mainly to maintain stability and financially sustainability in the pension system. The earnings-related pension system is managed neither by an as-you-go principle nor by a conventional advance funding principle. It is a system of the third way named a notional defined system. By means of this unique system, the earnings-related pension system can be managed by the as-you-go-principle at the flow level and at the same time maintain the pension assets equal to pension liabilities at stock level. Another important device in the new Swedish pension system is its built-in incentive to moderate the increase in the dependency ratio. `The change to actuarial pensions is intended to increase labor supply and delay retirement' (Rein and Waensjö, 1997). As both the deduction of the pension replacement ratio and the increase in the payroll tax or contribution ratio for a public pension in the aged society are limited, the main remaining policy variable consists in moderating the pension dependency ratio. The pension system in a very aged society must have an incentive system to prolong retirement.