Origins of the World Bank's approach to old age security

Abstract

"Demographic change, the maturing of pay-as-you-go systems, economic recession, and mismanagement amongst other factors have contributed to a growing interest in pension reforms over the past two decades. The World Bank has been a particularly visible actor in the discussion of pension reforms. Its 1994 publication of “Averting the Old Age Crisis”, marked a watershed for the Bank’s work on pensions and received considerable attention from academics and practitioners in developed and developing countries alike. The report has been criticised as contributing to the Bank’s efforts of neoliberal paradigm maintenance. This paper takes a closer look at the production of the report: why did the World Bank pick up the issue of pension reform in the first place? How did the decision to do a flagship report on pensions come about? How was the approach articulated in “Averting the Old Age Crisis” developed? Dynamics within the bank, the role of prominent staff as well as the external environment of the World Bank will be analyzed to draw a more differentiated picture when answer these questions." [author's abstract]