The Effectiveness of Pension Systems in Some Countries of Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Pension system is the main structure of financial protection of elderly. Worldwide, it can be found some archetypical models of pension systems organization. In most countries from Central and Eastern Europe pension systems are based on the contributory principle and solidarity between generations. This paper aims to appreciate the effectiveness of pension systems in five countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania, in the period 2007- 2017. Therefore, it was considered both microeconomic perspective of pension systems beneficiaries, and macroeconomic perspective, through the equilibrium of social insurance budget and the amount of contributions applied to labor market. The research leaded to the conclusion that the pension systems implemented in countries of Central and Eastern Europe, regardless of their organization, have both advantages and limitations, but the success of any national pension system is given by the adequacy to national context and conditions.

Keywords

• contributory pension systems
• social transfers
• intergenerational support
• pension adequacy