The Battle of Future Pensions

Abstract

This article examines the role of concepts and accounting techniques in shaping the debate and policy solutions on pensions. These concepts have been diffused around the world by epistemic communities, attaining global status as a means of describing the future financing burden of public pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension systems. The World Bank and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have played vital roles in these processes of diffusion. The article aims primarily to expose the importance of these conceptual tools in shaping the policy debate. Second, it accounts for their role as part of the contrasting policy stories that international organizations propagate in the global pension debate. Third, the article explores to what extent these conceptual tools and adhering pension policy stories have been applied and to what extent they have influenced the current pension reform processes in Norway.