International accounting standards as catalysts for pension reform: Greek pensions and the public/private boundary

Abstract

Pensions played a key role in the Greek fiscal crisis of 2010. This paper analyses a specific failure of pension system governance: the possibility of manipulating the vague boundary between social policy and occupational pensions. The vagueness of the boundary arises from the dual nature of pensions -as instruments of social and corporate policy. Where first pillar pension provision is segmented, this boundary can be fudged, giving rise to the possibility of appropriating public subsidies for occupational pensions. Though the implications of this for equity were understood long ago, change was finally imposed by the obligation to account for pension promises under International Accounting Standards. The indirect effect of this was to force the demarcation of an upward boundary to social policy responsibility. This paper, after setting up the analytical issue, outlines its manifestation in Greece, and examines the solution given in 2005-6. This methodology has acquired wider significance by being employed by the European Commission as an instrument in the analysis of issues of state aid.

Public Pensions and Implicit Debt: An Investigation for EU Member States Using Ageing Working Group 2021 Projections

“…As far as firms are concerned, employer-sponsored plans, especially if underfunded, could operate as cheap employment remuneration and could disguise a firm's true performance. The International Financial Reporting Standards-19 4 sets out how firms should report and service outstanding debt commitments (Tinios 2011). Pension obligations are treated as loans granted to the firm by the workforce, the future beneficiaries.…”

Η Ασφαλιστική Μεταρρύθμιση Και Η Ιδιωτική Ασφάλιση Στις Απόψεις Της Κοινής Γνώμης: Πολυμεταβλητή Ανάλυση

“…Στα ταμεία αυτά η διαχωριστική γραμμή μεταξύ εταιρικών και κοινωνικών παροχών είναι αδιαφανής (Tinios, 2011), με αποτέλεσμα την σκλήρυνση στάσεων, καθώς υπάρχει η πεποίθηση ότι η 'σύνταξη είναι από δικά μας λεφτά'. Αντίθετα, η μονομεταβλητή σχέση με τον ΟΑΕΕ φαίνεται ότι οφείλεται σε συσχέτιση με το εισόδημα και για τον λόγο αυτό είναι στατιστικά ασήμαντη.…”

The Informal Welfare State and the Family: Invisible Actors in the Greek Drama

“…The Greek formal social protection system evolved from a situation where the social safety net and social protection were, as in many developing countries, provided by the family, buttressed and financed by a large network of small family firms. ‘Formal’ social protection (with the possible exception of hospital health care) was ‘layered on’ to the pre‐existing framework and largely took its continuing operation for granted (Petmesidou, ; Tinios, 2010a; ).…”