[PEN-L:29916] universal welfare accounts

["ken hanly" <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Is this a new trend? What are pen's economists take on this..
Can you explain how they work a bit?

Cheers, Ken Hanly

> "Assessing Welfare Accounts"
>
>       BY:  STEFAN FOELSTER
>               Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
>               Swedish Research Institute of Trade (HUI)
>            ROBERT GIDEHAG
>               Swedish Research Institute of Trade (HUI)
>            J. MICHAEL ORSZAG
>               Watson Wyatt Worldwide
>               Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
>            DENNIS J. SNOWER
>               University of London, Birkbeck College
>               Department of Economics and Finance
>               Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
>               Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
>
> Document:  Available from the SSRN Electronic Paper Collection:
>            http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=325326
>
>            Other Electronic Document Delivery:
>            ftp://ftp.iza.org/dps/dp533.pdf
>            SSRN only offers technical support for papers
>            downloaded from the SSRN Electronic Paper Collection
>            location. When URLs wrap, you must copy and paste
>            them into your browser eliminating all spaces.
>
> Paper ID:  IZA Discussion Paper No. 533
>     Date:  July 2002
>
>  Contact:  DENNIS J. SNOWER
>    Email:  Mailto:dsnower@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>   Postal:  University of London, Birkbeck College
>            Department of Economics and Finance
>            7-15 Gresse Street
>            London WIT 1LL,    UNITED KINGDOM
>    Phone:  +44 171 631 6408
>      Fax:  +44 171 631 6416
>  Co-Auth:  STEFAN FOELSTER
>    Email:  Mailto:stefan.folster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>   Postal:  Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
>            Storgatan 19
>            SE-114 82 Stockholm,    SWEDEN
>  Co-Auth:  ROBERT GIDEHAG
>    Email:  Mailto:robert.gidehag@xxxxxx
>   Postal:  Swedish Research Institute of Trade (HUI)
>            S-103 29 Stockholm,    SWEDEN
>  Co-Auth:  J. MICHAEL ORSZAG
>    Email:  Mailto:Michael.Orszag@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>   Postal:  Watson Wyatt Worldwide
>            6707 Democracy Boulevard Suite 800
>            Bethesda, MD 20817-1129  UNITED STATES
>
> ABSTRACT:
>  The paper examines the possible effects of introducing a
>  large-scale welfare reform in Sweden, namely, the introduction
>  of comprehensive welfare accounts. Under this policy,
>  individuals make mandatory contributions to accounts, which they
>  can top up with voluntary contributions. In return, individuals'
>  welfare benefits are paid from their accounts. The paper uses a
>  large panel of individual income data to examine how the
>  adoption of universal welfare accounts may affect economic
>  activity. We find that this policy could be designed so as to
>  reduce social insurance expenditure considerably, improve the
>  incentives to work and save, all with relatively small
>  redistributive impact.
>
>  Keywords: Welfare Reform, Welfare Accounts, Social Insurance,
>  Taxes, Welfare State Benefits
>