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Deferred annuities, which offer longevity insurance with relatively low premiums, are a potential payout option in defined contribution (DC) pension plans in Japan. This study aims to measure individual preferences for these annuities.

This study conducts stated choice experiments using an original internet survey. This methodology provides a decision-making scenario similar to that faced by individuals when making real retirement saving decisions. Subjective valuations of deferred, immediate and term annuities are compared.

This study finds that male individuals have an insignificant preference for deferred annuities – the benefits of which begin at an advanced age. On average, deferred annuities are considered a gamble, betting against life and individuals who are married and have higher financial assets tend to value them less.

While previous studies, based on theory and simulations, have found that deferred annuities should be included in individual retirement assets, this study examines annuity preferences from the demand side (i.e. DC plan participants) –an approach that has not been addressed in the literature.

This chapter discusses the concept of productive ageing in Japan and Poland. Productive ageing is defined as any activity by older people which produces goods or services, whether paid or not. Productive ageing is slightly more narrowly defined than active ageing in so far it is focused on economic activity whereas active ageing covers a broader array of social activities. The chapter discusses activities of governments and employers in these three economies in promoting economic activities. The relative success of the Japanese economy in sustaining relative high levels of older employment is the result of active government interventions both in terms of adjusting pension policies to support working pensioners and intervening in employer practices. In Poland, government has struggled to raise older workers’ participation rates by raising pension ages and promoting older employment. In both countries, governments are recognising the economic impact of ageing demographics on the respective societies, but have had different levels of active involvement in intervening in employer practices. Finally, this chapter initiates a broader discussion of the situation in the discussed area not only in Poland, but in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

How to get people working longer and retiring later is a new research topic for contemporary social policy. Flexible work options could be one possibility, but are special shorter‐working‐hours‐for‐elderly workplaces really important in order to increase employment among the 65+ age group? The purpose of this paper is to argue, in the case of Japan, that increased availability of non‐standard work formats would not improve labour force participation among the elderly when it is driven by corporate objectives to reduce labour costs. On the contrary, supply‐driven increase in flexible work formats sends a signal of unfavourable labour market conditions and causes the elderly to stay out of labour.

The paper utilizes the Labour Force Survey, a nationally representative data set showing labour force participation and employment formats across all age groups.

It is true that non‐standard work formats are being progressively more used among elderly workers. However labour force participation rate has increased only in cases where the increase in flexible work formats was demand driven, meaning only to the point where both standard and non‐standard work options were equally available to the whole population. When economic conditions force companies to offer more non‐standard work options, increase in supply side takes place. This sends a signal of unfavourable labour market conditions to the elderly population, who are more elastic to labour market changes and by using a pension can easily withdraw from the workforce.

This analysis suggests that policy objectives to create flexible‐elderly work formats in order to increase the employment rate and reduce costs for the retirement system will not bring expected the results.

Although policy objective is to increase the employment rate among the elderly, focusing only on elderly will provide moderate results. Elderly population would come along, but only with the working age population. The first point of reform should be placed on the overall labour market, by diminishing major differences between standard and non‐standard work formats. One way could be the act of applying social security and company benefits to non‐standard work formats. Or opposite to that, the act of diminishing social security and company benefits to standard work formats.

This paper contributes to the literature by broadening understanding of elderly population behaviour in the labour market. With the increasing number of elderly people, retirement systems are looking for methods to postpone full‐retirement. Through analysis, the paper seeks to understand if and when flexible employment formats among the elderly are demand or supply driven.

This article aims to explain how a transnational “retirement industry” in Southeast Asia has emerged recently as a result of interplays between various national and transnational forces, particularly in the domain of elderly care. “Retirement industry” refers to business operations related to the relocation of foreign retirees, primarily Japanese pensioners, who seek affordable social care and alternative retirement life.

This paper is based on extensive documentary studies and multi‐sited ethnographic research from 2004 to date. In‐depth interviews with retirees and relevant agencies were carried out in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

This article delineates how demographic and economic changes in Japan create demand for the transnational retirement industry, and how Southeast Asian countries actively promote the industry as a national development strategy. As such the boundaries between nation‐state and between the market and the state are simultaneously crossed. The industry opens new transnational routes and spaces and thus further complicates the transnationalization of elderly care in Asia.

Current research on social welfare remains dominated by methodological nationalism, and this article calls attention to the transnational dimension in understanding recent changes in social care. By engaging the predominant paradigm of “care diamond”, the article shows that how boundaries shift between various care providers within nation states is inextricably related to how borders are crossed between nation states.

We study the potential effects of pension underfunding on corporate investment, financial constraints and improved employee bonding using 10 Pacific-Basin countries (including the United States, Australia, and eight Asian countries) at heterogeneous economic development stages and different regulatory environments. We document that corporate pensions are significantly underfunded in most countries of our sample in the period of 2001–2017, when interest rates were ultralow in most countries. In addition, firms from countries with stronger employee protection and more generous retirement benefits tend to show higher levels of underfunding in their defined benefit (DB) pension plans. To the extent of pension underfunding imposing constraints on corporate investment, we find that firms in these countries can face more constraints on investment when their pension is underfunded.

Population ageing, coupled with economic uncertainty and a shifting workforce structure, has directed the attention of public and organizational policy makers toward the potential contribution of older workers and skilled migrants in meeting labor supply shortages in ageing populations. This chapter presents labor supply and demand scenarios for 10 OECD countries and examines trends in the labor force participation of older workers against the backdrop of changes to the nature of work in an era of globalization, casualization, and, increasingly, automation. Brief analysis of each country’s situation and policy responses indicates that China, Japan, and Korea stand out as being at particular risk of being unable to maintain growth without undertaking drastic action, although their areas of focus need to differ. A limitation of the study is that GDP projections used in labor demand analysis were based on historical rates and represented past potential and a long-run average of historic economic output. Future research might also undertake comparative analysis of case studies addressing different potential solutions to workforce ageing. A key implication of the study is that there is a need to take a blended approach to public policy regarding older workers in a changing labor market. Where migration has historically been a source of labor supplementation, this may become a less viable avenue over the near future. Future shortfalls in labor imply that economies will increasingly need to diversify their sources of workers in order to maintain economic growth. For public policy makers the challenge will be to overcome public antipathy to migration and longer working lives.

This study aims to examine to what extent the Japanese financial markets are affected by the four periods of unconventional monetary policies (UMP) implemented by the Bank of Japan from 2013 to 2020.

Using the daily 10-year term spread as a proxy for monetary easing policy, this study uses four sub-sample periods from 2013 to 2020 to look into the effectiveness of UMP on the Japanese financial markets.

Our result shows that not all of the Bank of Japan's unconventional monetary policies are equally effective in influencing the Japanese financial markets. In particular, the QQE policy implemented from April 2013 to October 2014 effectively influenced the stock market, banking sector and foreign exchange market. However, the financial market impact of monetary policy is muted during the QQE expansion period. Likewise, the QQE with a negative interest rate policy influences only the banking sector. Finally, the QQE with its yield curve control policy effectively impacts the financial markets.

This research can be expanded by studying the international spillover effect of the Bank of Japan's UMP on the financial markets in Asian countries.

The findings of this study enable investors to understand the causal relationship between the Bank of Japan's UMP and the financial market indicators, thereby helping them to position their portfolio investments. From the policy perspective, the finding is useful to inform the Bank of Japan on which policy is relatively effective in affecting the financial markets. In light of the empirical finding, the Bank of Japan should continue to pursue the QQE YCCP or revert to the initial QQE policy, as the two policies are relatively more effective than the QQE expansion and QQE NIRP in affecting the Japanese financial markets.

The empirical finding highlights the importance of controlling for the impact of different QQE policies in the model. Future research may consider conducting sub-sample analysis to cater to the different QQE policy regimes. This approach provides a clearer picture and valid inferences on the financial market impact of each QQE policy.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of Bank of Japan's QQE on the Japanese financial markets. For the market participants, the findings of this study suggest that investors should closely gauge the development of the unconventional monetary policies of the Bank of Japan because the monetary easing policy influences the decision-making process of commercial banks, pension funds, mutual funds, retail investors and other stakeholders in the financial markets. The policy twist will have future ramifications for their loan, investment and retirement fund portfolios.

This chapter discusses how trade union structuring and organisation in the West and Asia shapes how they respond to government and employer pressures to extend working life. Class-based solidarity building in the West should lead to unions protecting employment and pension rights by mobilising members to defend the ‘right to retire’ while campaigning for protections of all older workers. Enterprise unionism in Asia, on the other hand, should mean that unions use their close relationships with government and employers to protect the job security of core employees and mobilise company-based solidarity. Drawing on the survey data, expectations and awareness of union members and non-members are compared in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. It is shown that British union members have a greater understanding of their employment rights and retirement savings while in Hong Kong union membership correlates with better understanding of company HRM policies.

There has been a growing interest amongst academics, researchers employers and governments/policymakers on ageing workplaces and workforces. As populations age and pension ages rise, older workers are finding themselves having to delay or postpone their retirement and organisations are looking for ways to enable them to do so in sustainable work. Workplace ageing is impacting both European and Asian societies and governments and employers are taking nationally specific approaches to age-related human resource management, social and public policies. In Europe, national governments are being led by the European Union in developing social and public policies to support older workers in maintaining employment through lifelong learning, flexible working, health management and job rotation. Tiger economies have focused on the ‘working pensioner’ pension rules which enable older workers to phase into retirement. China is facing rapid ageing but still maintains early retirement as a way to help older workers move out of physically and mentally demanding work. In addition to providing an outline for the remainder of the book, we also present a survey of older employees undertaken in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong which explores experiences in work, workplace relationships, skills and retirement plans. The survey is used as a common resource for the remaining chapters.