The political economy of pensions: western theories, eastern facts

A review essay on books by (1) Gosta Esping-Andersen, Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies (Oxford, UK: Oxford U Press, 1999); (2) K. Muller, The Political Economy of Pension Reform in Central-Eastern Europe (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 1999); (3) K. Muller, A. Ryll, & H.-J. Wagener [Eds], Transformation of Social Security: Pensions in Central-Eastern Europe (Heidelberg: Physica, 1999); (4) Paul Pierson [Ed], The New Politics of the Welfare State (Oxford, UK: Oxford U Press, 2001); & (5) T. Stranovnik, N. Stropnik, & C. Prinz [Eds], Economic Well-Being of the Elderly: A Comparison across Five European Countries (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000). These works examine pensions in contemporary welfare states, including the political economies of both postindustrial Western societies & the postcommunist ones of Central & Eastern Europe. Esping-Andersen suggests that welfare regimes create three interrelated arenas -- the labor market, the welfare state, & the family -- the household economy holding the key to the problems of the dilemmas plaguing postindustrial societies. Pierson's edition offers contributions analyzing how the new politics of welfare retrenchment differ from those of the old politics of welfare expansion, & explore how this will prove more influential in the long run than simultaneous globalization trends for postindustrial welfare economies. Pensions are considered a key dimension of this new politics of welfare, & are linked with the triad proposed by Esping-Andersen. In the formerly communist countries, Muller explores pensions in a comparative analysis of Hungary, Poland, & the Czech Republic from an actor-centered institutionalist perspective. Muller, Ryll, & Wagener's edition use the same empirical data to compare social security across a wider selection of Central-Eastern European economies, while Stranovnik, Stropnik, & Prinz's collection focuses on the elderly in five of these countries, comparing retirement policies & financial consequences for pensioners. 11 References. K. Hyatt Stewart