ABSTRACT
What is the relationship between population ageing and the generosity of public pension programs? Since the mid-1970s, students of comparative welfare development have been increasingly interested in the political role of the elderly in the expansion and preservation of coverage and benefit levels in income retirement programs. Using time-series and cross-sectional datasets, several economists, political scientists and sociologists have examined the relationship between the share of elderly population and different indicators of pension generosity in affluent democracies. However, this research has been inconclusive. One group of studies suggests a positive effect (Huber and Stephens 2006; Pampel and Williamson 1985; Pampel et al. 1990; Williamson and Pampel 1993), another group suggests a negative effect (Lindert 2004; Razin et al.2002), while a third group has reported statistically insignificant effects (Breyer and Craig 1997;Huber and Stephens 2001; Palme 1990; Tepe and Vanhuysse 2009). Therefore, this debate still has not been settled.
