ABSTRACT
Over the past decades, pension privatisation has been a central issue in comparative studies of the welfare state because pensions have become the predominant social insurance programmes of almost all OECD countries and other newly industrialising countries (Béland and Shinkawa, 2007; Häusermann, 2010; Orenstein, 2008; Rein and Schmähl, 2004; Vangunsteren and Rein, 1985). Countries with earning-related public pension schemes tend to restrict the role of the private sector in pension provision regarding multi-pillar pension systems (Vangunsteren and Rein, 1985). In a multi-pillar system, universal flat-rate public pension schemes provide minimum economic security while private pensions play a more crucial role than public pensions but require more state regulation for implementation (Ebbinghaus and Gronwald, 2011; Leisering, 2010; Myles and Pierson, 2001).
