Agents of Privatization? Business Groups and the Rise of Pension Funds in Continental Europe
Socio-Economic Review (2013) 11 (3): 441-469
37 Pages Posted: 16 Jan 2015 Last revised: 7 Feb 2015
Date Written: June 1, 2012
Abstract
This paper analyses business preferences towards the development of private pension funds. Existing studies about business involvement in welfare state reform equate capital with employers and focus on the socio-economic determinants of their preferences. In contrast, this paper also analyses the role of financial firms. Moreover, it develops a set of hypotheses about how institutions contribute to shape capital's preferences towards pension privatization. In particular, I study the impact of institutional feedback from the public/statutory pay-as-you-go system, from existing private/supplementary occupational pensions and the influence of social partnership. Financial firms are hypothesized to be a key proponent of pension privatization, while employers may have a much more ambivalent attitude. The argument is tested using a comparative historical analysis of pension debates in Belgium and France from the end of the 1970s until the mid-2000s.
Keywords: pension privatization, business groups, employers, financial services industry, insurance, manufacturing industry, comparative political economy, varieties of capitalism, politics, pension reform, old-age pensions, pension funds, France, Belgium
JEL Classification: D31, D92, E21, E62, G23, H11, H32, H55, J11, J18, J26, J32, J58, L33, P16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation