From Benefits and Beneficiaries: The Historical Origins of Old-Age Pensions From a Political Regime Perspective

Abstract

Global studies on the historical origins of old-age pensions from a political regime perspective are quite rare. Based on the novel PENLEG dataset this article shows that democratic and nondemocratic regimes had different policy priorities when designing old-age pensions for the first time. Whereas democracies had significantly higher legal pension coverage rates than nondemocratic regimes, the reverse pattern can be found for pension replacement rates. The study also shows that temporal effects and colonial legacy mattered. Longstanding democracies introduced much higher legal pension coverage rates than countries that had recently democratized. Additionally, the French colonial legacy spurred high legal pension coverage rates in African autocracies. These findings underline the importance of taking the multidimensionality of welfare programs into account when analyzing political regime differences. Moreover, due attention must be paid to the historical context when theorizing about welfare policies from a political regime perspective.

The Global Diffusion of Work-Injury Insurance: The Role of Spatial Networks and Nation Building

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Between Aspiration and Reality: The Effect of the French Colonial Legacy on Old-Age Pension Coverage in Africa

“…Figure 9.1 maps legal pension coverage rates of the first old-age pension programmes implemented in the former French colonies in Africa. Data have been derived from the novel PENLEG dataset (Grünewald 2021a), which defines a programme that covers at least one out of eleven predefined occupational groups 1 outside of the public sector as the first pension scheme. Additionally, the pension programme must either be defined as a mandatory insurance scheme or must offer benefits as a matter of social rights (Grünewald 2021b, 94).…”

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