Rent-Seeking in Private Pensions

By: Silvia Borzutzky and Mark Hyde

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Synopsis: This bookargues that the implementation of compulsory, highly regulated, privatelyadministered, defined contribution pensions facilitates rent-seeking behaviouron the part of the pension fund administrators and undermines the retirees'income and well-being. While the book focuses primarily on Chile, its analysisand conclusions are applicable to several Latin American and Eastern Europeancountries where privately administered pension systems have been implemented. Chapters evaluate the scholarly literatureand empirical evidence around three aspects of the pension fund industry:structure, pricing and performance. The authors conclude that state regulationhas facilitated the accumulation of capital in the hands of the pension fundadministrators. They also demonstrate that these systems owe more to the valuesand principles of conservative philosophy than to neoliberalism in providingalternative solutions to the rent-seeking approach to retirement.