AIM - Adequacy and sustainability of old-age income maintenance

This project aims at providing a strengthened conceptual and scientific basis for assessing the capacity of European pension systems to deliver adequate old age income maintenance in a context of low fertility and steadily increasing life expectancy. The main focus is on the capacity of social security systems to contribute to preventing poverty among the old and elderly and more generally to enable persons to take all appropriate measures to ensure stable or "desired" distribution of income over the full life cycle. In addition it will explore and examine the capacity of pension systems to attain broad social objectives with respect to inter- and intra generational solidarity.

Furthermore it will examine the capacity of pension systems to allow workers to change job or to move temporarily out of the labour market and to adapt career patterns without losing vesting of pensions rights. The project will also address the specific challenges with respect to providing appropriate old age income for women.

A general objective of the research project will be to clearly identify and analyse the potential trade-offs between certain social policy objectives and overall stability of public debt.

AIM is financed under the 6th EU Research Framework Programme. It started in May 2005 and includes partners from both the old and new EU member states.

Participating institutes:

• CEPS - Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels
• FPB - Belgian Federal Planning Bureau, Brussels
• DIW - Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin
• ETLA - The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, Helsinki
• FEDEA - Fundacion de Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Madrid
• SCP - Social and Cultural Planning Office, Netherlands
• ISAE - Instituto di Studi e Analisi Economica (Institute for Studies and Economic Analysis), Italy
• NIESR - National Institute for Economic and Social Research, London
• CASE - Centrum Analiz Spolleczno-Ekonomicznych (Center for Social and Economic Research) Poland
• TARKI - Tarsadalomkutatasi Informatikai Egyesules (TARKI Social Research Informatics Centre), Hungary
• CeRP - Centre for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Italy
• SAS - Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Republic
• IER - Inštitut za ekonomska raziskovanja (Institute for economic research), Slovenia

FINAL CONFERENCE

Adequacy - the concept and its operationalisation, Elsa Fornero, CeRP

Classification of pension systems in the EU, Cok Vrooman, SCP

Paper: A comparative typology of pension systems

Pension reforms and public opinion: Robert Gal, TARKI

Pension reforms and the labour market:, Juraj Draxler, CEPS

Gender difference in retirement income and pension policy - simulating the effects of various DB and DC schemes

Equality of retirement benefits received by men and women in selected European countries: childbearing and future benefits

Womens' pension rights and survivors' benefits: a comparative analysis of EU member states and candidate countries

Differences in the productivity levels of older workers in the EU: a cross country analysis of the age-wage relationship

The option value model in the retirement literature: the trade-off between computational complexity and predictive validity

Approaches to modelling: results of MIDAS simulations for Belgium, Germany and Italy: Gijs Dekkers, FPB

Ensuring sustainability and actuarial fairness, Martin Weale, NIESR

Poverty and social inclusion of the elderly, Cok Vrooman, SCP and Nada Stropnik, IER

Social exclusion of the elderly: a comparative study of EU member states

Maintaining living standards, Margherita Borella, CeRP

Solidarity between and within generations,Hannu Piekkola, ETLA

Social security and retirement during transition: microevidence from Slovenia