199 research outputs found
Longevity: Trends, uncertainty and the implications for pension systems
No full textThis paper presents historical trends in life expectancy in the United Kingdom and other countries and discusses how these trends might evolve over the coming decades. The paper argues that the expected increases in longevity are likely to have significant implications for the structure of pension systems in the future. Individuals, businesses and governments have already responded to these expected increases – for example by working longer, closing defined-benefit pension schemes or introducing parametric reforms to the state pension system – and are likely to change their behaviours further in the future. The issue is complicated by the fact that future longevity trends are uncertain. This makes it more difficult to allocate longevity risk efficiently and fairly across the different economic agents, while making it also more difficult to guarantee the sustainability of the system overall. The paper shows though that innovative solutions to this challenge are being developed, from businesses moving towards hybrid defined-benefit/defined-contribution pension schemes, to governments introducing mechanisms which automatically split the financial burden arising from future increases in life expectancy between state and individual, to businesses taking advantage of new products being developed to transfer any risk to the capital markets. --Pensions,Uncertainty,Financial markets,Longevity,Pension liabilities
Back to the drawing board: The economic crisis and its implications for pension provision in the United Kingdom
No full textThis paper focuses on an issue, which so far has received relatively little attention by policy makers and the media, namely that the economic crisis has highlighted inherent weaknesses in existing pension systems in many countries. Using the example of the UK, the paper argues that the economic crisis will usher in further changes to the future provision of pensions, with the role of the private and public sectors likely to evolve in the years ahead. To support this argument, the paper first presents the pension landscape in the UK prior to the crisis, which was dominated by the closure of defined benefit pension schemes in the private sector and the government’s reform efforts. The paper then describes the impact of the economic crisis from both a macroeconomic and financial perspective on all aspects of the pension system, from the government’s deteriorating public finances to the collapsing funding position of occupational defined-benefit and defined-contribution schemes. The paper concludes by suggesting that the crisis has left the British pension system in a weakened state and that it is unlikely that it will return to its “pre-crisis” status once the economy recovers from the crisis. --Economic crisis,Pension finances,Pension systems,Defined benefit pensions,Pension liabilities,Government policy,Financial markets
Curating Experiences: Rethinking the Estate Landscape for Sensorial Affordances
No full textPeople continually shape the landscape. The landscape being a palimpset of their socio-economic and cultural ethos. Few landscapes become valued as heritage and a marker for regional identity. However, often times, landscapes deemed as heritage might not strike upan attachment with the lives of the people around and within it. A heritage landscape for a few might mean very little to many others. Additionally, when elements composition the heritage landscape begin to fall apart, the landscape is pushed further into a state of disassociations.The estate landscape of the Baakse Beek narrates quite a similar tale. It is an estate landscape losing prominence and attachment from the rural lives. This broken relationship is further aggravated by the brook decaying functionally, ecologically and sensorially. Curating experiences offers a revitalisation of the heritage estates to become a setting for formation of experiential narratives and appreciation of the brook, which vitalises the aesthetic and ecological diversity within these estates. In doing so, the research entails the use of narratives as a method for documenting the uniqueness that lies in the basic unitof the landscape’s composition i.e the enclosures, mapping the experiences in these enclosures and alongthe brook, and constructing the plethora of socio-cultural engagements and perceptions in and with the landscape. Enriched by the theories of Sensorial Landscape, Seasonality of Landscape and Aesthetic Engagement, the research led to the curation of a tapestry of sensorially stimulating and engaging spaces. The project delivers a way of seeing the brook as integral to the experience of the landscape . It hopes to inspire the different stakeholders of the landscape to envision a more whole some outlook of looking at the sustainability of these heritage landscapes not only in functional terms, but also in terms of socio-cultural connections that sustain the value of this landscape.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Landscape Architectur
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