ABSTRACT
Debates over pension reforms display a level of intensity and scrutiny that
few policies can match. No organization has played a more central role in
the debate than the World Bank. This chapter will analyse the World Bank’s
position in the debate by examining two key documents it has published on
the subject: Averting the Old Age Crisis (1994) and Old-Age Income Support
in the 21st Century (Holzmann and Hing 2005). It will show that contrary
to widespread assumptions that Bretton Woods institutions are at the fore-
front of efforts to dismantle the welfare state, the Bank’s recent document shows increasing rather than decreasing commitment to expanding and
diversifying income support for the aged. There is certainly no evidence of
institutional efforts to promote across the board a ‘race to the bottom’, or a
‘race to the top’ for that matter. What we have instead is something more
like a race to the middle, with weakening and strengthening of pension
systems going on at the same time. The explanation for the trend is com-
plex, comprising a range of social, economic, and cognitive factors.
