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In the past three decades, almost all OECD countries and all members of the European Union have reformed their pension systems. OECD Pensions at a Glance, OECD, Paris, OECD Pensions at a Glance | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org) The fraction of pension savings that can go directly into the solidarity reserve is limited to 10%, but in addition, around 30% of the pension savings of a young worker can subsequently be transferred to the solidarity reserve via a levy on future positive excess returns. [Extracted from the article]

One of the key elements in the planned pension reform in the Netherlands is to abolish the implicit subsidy from younger to older workers inherent in pension schemes with age independent contribution and accrual rates. This paper investigates the impact of changes in contribution rates on wages, labor costs and labor supply using a rich administrative data set covering individual employees in the Netherlands for the period 2006–2012. With a panel-based approach and data on both marginal and average contribution rates we aim to provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the incidence and labor supply (in hours) effects of pension contributions. For a two-year change in pension contributions we find that 70% of this change is passed on to the labor costs of employers, while 30% is passed on to the net wage of the employee. No significant effects are found for labor supply. At least in the short and medium run, our results seem at variance with the standard demand-and-supply model for the labor market, but are consistent with a bargaining model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the summer of 2020 the Dutch government and social partners have agreed on a pension reform involving the transformation of occupational pensions from the current defined-benefit (DB) based contract into a new defined contribution (DC) contract with some additional collective features. This involves a unique operation as all current DB entitlements—also those already built up—are expected be converted into DC type capital accounts. With the transition to DC accounts the redistribution due to 'uniformity pricing' that was implicit in the DB contract will be abolished and solvency requirements adjusted. This paper analyses how the transformation affects different generations. Special attention will be given to the modelling of the collective add-on to the contract (in the form of a solidarity reserve) that aims to strengthen risk sharing among generations. The effects of the reform will be analyzed for three outcome measures: pension results (in terms of replacement rates), market valuation of pensions net of contributions ('net benefit'), and welfare measured in certainty equivalent consumption (measured through equivalent replacement rates). How the reform impacts different generations proves to be very sensitive to the measure used. There is little consensus neither in economic theory—nor in politics—on what is the best measure. It is sensitive to perspectives, and different traditions in economics focus on different measures. This paper will discuss how economic analysis can still be useful for actual policy making in such a sensitive domain as a pension reform. Finally, by investigating alternative parametrizations of the contract the paper aims to provide insight into the robustness of the results under alternative measures, and on how the new contract could be further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If larger pension savings lead to deeper capital markets, this can be expected to have a positive effect on economic growth in particular for firms that rely on external finance. We employ this differential impact on firms with less or more external finance to identify the effect of pension saving on economic growth. Using data for 69 industrial sectors in 34 OECD countries for the period 2001-2010, we find a significant impact of pension assets on growth for sectors that are more dependent on external financing. This relation is not significantly changed by the 2007-2008 banking crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of the credit crisis on the wealth and consumption of different generations based on current pension rules in the Netherlands. It states that too much burden is put on the babyboom generations when it comes to the impact of the credit crisis. It notes that pension funds in the country lack enough instruments to recognize alternative distribution in a non-distortionary approach.

Discusses the practice of risk assessment in cost-benefit analysis of public investment in the Netherlands. Value of risk for the government; Importance of distinguishing between diversifiable and non-diversifiable risks.

This paper studies the consequences of growth promoting policies for income distribution, aggregate savings, and the balance of payments in a small open economy. We focus on the case of a reduction in capita] income taxation. Then the traditional OLG model, which emphasizes the inter-generational distribution, predicts that both investment and consumption are boosted. It is obvious then that the trade balance deteriorates. However, we show that this result is no longer robust if one allows for heterogeneity of agents within each generation. Then the intra-generational distribution effect, which implies a negative relationship between the share of capital income and aggregate consumption, may cause consumption to decline, and the trade balance to improve. This effect concurs with the classical, or "post-Keynesian" view on the relationship between distribution and savings. This post-Keynesian effect is, however, important for the short run only; the long-term result for the trade balance is not essentially changed by allowing for intra-generational heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the implications of different budgetary regimes for the income distribution of government investments. Impact of budget rules on policymaking; Features of the economic policy in the Netherlands; Golden rule on government finance; Effects of the plans for government investment or different generations by age category; Benefits of the golden rule on finance.

This paper reexamines the link between pollution, abatement policies and economic growth. We develop a Lucas variety of endogenous growth model to formalize the effects of pollution and abatement on growth. Pollution is linked to the scale of production; it has a negative impact on productivity both in directly productive activities and in the learning process. This effect may be mitigated by abatement activities the efficiency of which can be enhanced by investing in abatement technology. We show that less (effective) pollution is associated with higher growth in the steadystate. Also the short term effects are examined, and finally, we discuss the optimal government policies with respect to abatement and taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the revenue from money and its distribution between the government and the central bank. An accounting framework is developed taking explicit account of stock and flow aspects of monetary revenue. Application of this framework to data for The Netherlands shows that although the overall revenue from money in the period 1949-1989 was sizeable, the central government did not really benefit from its monetary monopoly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the basic determinants of stability and instability of the accumulation of public debt in an open and growing economy. Unlike most previous studies which start from the basically short term IS-LM framework, this analysis centers on the long-term dynamics arising from the government budget restraint, the balance of payments restraint and the interaction between growth and income distribution. Several policy regimes for the government's budget are taken into consideration and specific attention is paid to the question of whether monetary and fiscal policy can effectively ensure the stability of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on risk factors related to public investment projects. Evaluation of risk is important for two purposes. First, it helps to make informed decisions on whether or not to carry out an individual public investment project. Here, the evaluation of risk is part of a full cost-benefit analysis of the investment project. Second, it helps the government to make the right financing decisions in public-private partnerships. In this case, it supports the governments' position in negotiations with private partners on the distribution of risks and returns of a certain project.