Rivalry of Advocacy Coalitions in the Czech Pension Reform

Abstract

Th e Czech Republic, as many other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, faced and is still facing a pension-reform challenge. Th e diversifi cation of pension pillars led to the massive displacements of participant contributions from the public PAYG pension pillars to the newly constructed private, defi ned-contribution, fully-funded pillars. In the Czech Republic, the adoption of the relevant law was preceded by serious political confl ict between supporters and opponents of this step (both among diff erent political actors and among professionals). In an analysis of the confl ict we critically apply the Advocacy Coalition Framework. We work mainly with the analysis of policy documents, public statements of the individual actors and an analysis of voting on the relevant law in both chambers of the Czech Parliament towards the identifi cation of the crystallization process of two clear-cut coalitions between actors from both sides of the spectrum. Th e Advocacy Coalition Framework in exploring the dynamics of the public-policy process proved to be able to explain situations where there is sharp political confl ict. Th rough the lens of the devil-shift of both camps (advocacy coalitions with diff erent beliefs), each fell into extreme positions within the coalition to affi rm the correctness of their arguments and positions.

Redistributive effects of the Czech pension system - microeconomic approach

“…Lze shrnout, že nižší odvodové povinnosti OSVČ jsou spíše reliktem minulosti, devadesátých let minulého století, kdy byla snaha tento sektor významně podpořit, a tak ho restartovat a reagovat na jeho silné potlačení v období plánované ekonomiky. V našem příspěvku se zaměříme "pouze" na první (průběžný) pilíř, ostatní důchodové pilíře mají v České republice jen malou roli (blíže k fiasku českého druhého pilíře viz (Potůček, 2018;Potůček a Rudolfová, 2016;MPSV, 2014). Důležitost penzijních dávek z prvního pilíře pro české důchodce je vyjádřena v příloze č.…”

Pension Systems´ Privatization in Central and Easter Europe

“…This section comprises the condensed history of the Czech second pension pillar. For more extensive analysis refer toPotůček & Rudolfová, 2016;Potůček et al, 2017. …”