Argentina’s Emergency Family Income (IFE): An opportunity for women’s empowerment

This article provides empirical evidence regarding the impact of the Emergency Family Income (Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia – IFE), which was implemented in Argentina in 2020. Investigated is the impact of the IFE on women’s role in providing household income and on the distribution of roles within households, as a reflection of women’s empowerment. Drawing on various household surveys, the study compared those women eligible to receive the transfer with those who were not. A difference-in-differences (DID) methodology was used to measure the impact. Following the implementation of the IFE, women’s share of couple income and household income is found to have increased by some 8 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, while the probability of women being solely responsible for household chores has fallen by 4 per cent.     

Les plateformes de travail numérique et l‘évolution de la main-d‘œuvre en ligne en Fédération de Russie: une analyse sur dix ans

Les auteurs décrivent l'évolution du marché du travail indépendant en ligne en Fédération de Russie et dans l'espace postsoviétique. Les données proviennent d'une enquête originale, adressée à quatre reprises, entre 2009 et 2019, aux utilisateurs d'une grande plateforme d'intermédiation en langue russe, axée sur les métiers créatifs et l'économie du savoir. Plusieurs tendances se dégagent: expansion de l'aire de recrutement; diversification des spécialisations; féminisation, vieillissement et qualification de la main-d'œuvre; péjoration de l'adéquation profil-tâches; consolidation des parcours indépendants en ligne, plateformisation et formalisation. Les auteurs commentent ces évolutions et formulent des recommandations d'action en vue du développement futur du secteur en Fédération de Russie.     

The Brazilian pension model: The pending agenda

To achieve national goals defined by the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution, cash benefits alone are insufficient in the absence of more robust social services to reduce inequalities and improve social cohesion. The Constitution, albeit of national importance and international significance, has not addressed many institutional and administrative weaknesses in the design of the national pension system. Although coverage has been increased and inequality reduced, these measures are not sufficient. Brazil's ambitions to further develop social policies (and, indeed, to live up to its accorded international status as a social policy leader) may be constrained by an over‐reliance on conditional cash transfers such as those provided under the Bolsa Família programme. Brazil faces a major political‐economy challenge in addressing all these issues because the policy reform process is difficult, and, more importantly, because of the embedded role of vested interests. Moreover, Brazil must tackle these issues in the face of growing fiscal pressures, which could weaken the current political legitimacy of social policy and undermine important recent successes.     

Global–regional interaction to extend access to social protection for migrant workers: Insights from ASEAN and MERCOSUR

Universal access to social protection for migrant workers is emerging as a problematic issue in the implementation of free movement regimes at a regional level. This article focuses on the concept of regional governance as a possible mechanism to address the unsolved challenges of social security regimes to extend coverage. To this end, the article looks at current legal developments in two regional projects (ASEAN and MERCOSUR) to identify a creative approach to strengthen the development of national floors of social protection. The interest of using these case studies lies in exploring whether the regional integration process can play a major role in the progressive extension of social protection rights to migrant workers by facilitating the adoption of social security agreements.     

A “Swedish” actuarial balance for a notional defined contribution pension scheme with disability and minimum pension benefits

This article proposes a “Swedish” type actuarial balance sheet (ABS) for a notional defined contribution (NDC) scheme with disability and minimum pension benefits. The proposed ABS splits the pension system in two parts: the pure NDC part and the redistributive part, which includes the assets and liabilities originating from non‐contributory rights. The article contains a numerical example that sheds light on the real applicability of our proposal. The model has practical implications that could be of interest to policy‐makers, given that it integrates actuarial and social aspects of public pensions and discloses the real cost of redistribution through minimum pensions.     

An actuarial balance sheet of the Swiss old‐age pension scheme

Following the recent update of the international System of National Accounts (2008 SNA), internationally comparable estimates of accrued‐to‐date pension liabilities (ADL) of unfunded social security pension schemes will soon be available in the supplementary table to the National Accounts. Against this background, this article analyzes the medium‐term sustainability of the Swiss old‐age pension scheme (Alters‐ und Hinterlassenenversicherung – AHV). This is achieved by estimating a “Swedish” actuarial balance sheet, which compares pension liabilities with the explicit and implicit assets of the pension scheme. Our results show that the current financing of the AHV is unsustainable, with about 30 per cent of the liabilities not backed by corresponding assets. In order to close this financing gap either the contribution rate should rise from 8.4 per cent to 12 per cent or all pension liabilities should be cut by about 38 per cent.     

Second‐pillar pensions in Central and Eastern Europe: Payment constraints and exit options

During 1998–2007, a majority of Central and Eastern European (CEE) governments enacted laws obligating workers to save for retirement in privately managed individual accounts. The governments funded these accounts with a portion of public pension revenues, thus creating or increasing deficits in public systems. After the onset of the global financial and economic crisis (2008), most CEE governments reduced these funding diversions and scaled back the accounts. Now, a decade after the crisis, this article examines the benefits that the accounts are beginning to pay retiring workers. In general, these benefits are shown to be disadvantageous compared with public pensions. Some pay lump sums in lieu of regular monthly benefits, most fail to adjust pensions regularly for inflation, and some pay women less than men with equal account balances. In several countries, pensioners with individual accounts receive lower benefits than those without them. To enable retiring workers to avoid these disadvantages, several CEE governments have allowed them to refund their account balances and receive full public pensions. Yet while this strategy diffuses worker dissatisfaction, it also places strains on public pension finance. To assist second‐pillar account holders without weakening public pensions, governments should consider making private pension savings voluntary and financing these schemes independently of public pensions – i.e. by worker and employer contributions and, possibly, direct state support.     

Biometric technology and beneficiary rights in social protection programmes

Over the past decade, the use of biometric technology in the identification and authentication of beneficiaries of social protection programmes has increased. However, there has been little debate among governments, donors and civil society organizations on the potential implications of this technology in relation to the inclusion of the most vulnerable sectors of the population, as well as for the protection of privacy and personal data. This article aims to fill that gap. First, the article reviews how biometric technology is used in various social protection programmes around the world. Then, it examines the potential risks and challenges of deploying biometric technology in social protection programmes. Finally, it assesses the requirements necessary to ensure that biometric technology is implemented in compliance with international law standards. The focus is on developing countries, where the use of biometric technology in identification systems has increased considerably in recent years. Among the key conclusions of the article is that the adoption of biometric technology, often encouraged by donors, needs to be preceded by democratic debate where all alternatives are discussed. The adoption of this technology should be accompanied by a context‐specific assessment of risks, and the adoption of an appropriate legal and institutional framework to protect rights and ensure that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the population are not excluded.     

摩尼教帕提亚语赞美组诗《胡亚达曼》译释

《胡亚达曼》是帕提亚语的赞美组诗,是摩尼教的重要文书之一,百年之前发现于中国新疆吐鲁番地区。本文将帕提亚语的组诗及其粟特语和突厥语的若干译文残片译成汉文,并对某些关键和重要词汇作出详细的解释或辨析,大体上展示了组诗的内容结构和文化因素。     

Quantitative comparisons between finitary posterior distributions and Bayesian posterior distributions

The main object of Bayesian statistical inference is the determination of posterior distributions. Sometimes these laws are given for quantities devoid of empirical value. This serious drawback vanishes when one confines oneself to considering a finite horizon framework. However, assuming infinite exchangeability gives rise to fairly tractable a posteriori quantities, which is very attractive in applications. Hence, with a view to a reconciliation between these two aspects of the Bayesian way of reasoning, in this paper we provide quantitative comparisons between posterior distributions of finitary parameters and posterior distributions of allied parameters appearing in usual statistical models.