ABSTRACT
Pension reform has emerged as a central element in the restructuring of European welfare states in recent years. Starting in the mid-1970s, public pension systems became increasingly subject to powerful economic and fiscal strains. Moreover, the rising share of elderly persons will exert considerable pressure on public pension schemes in the long-term. Against that background, the focus of pension policy-makers moved (mostly irrespective of their party affiliation) increasingly towards a policy of retrenchment and cost containment. This motive became particularly evident in the 1990s, when virtually all advanced welfare states tried to dampen the growth of public pension expenditures (Hemerijck and Schludi 2000). This is especially true for countries with pension systems following the Bismarckian type (that is, contribution-financed social insurance operating on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis) which appear to be particularly vulnerable to the pressures sketched above (Hinrichs 2000).
