Reform of pension schemes in the OECD countries

The author considers problems associated with state pension schemes in OECD countries, with particular reference to Spain. He reviews the current state of the three main models of social security: the ''occupational'' model, originating in continental Europe, the ''universal'' model from Scandinavia and the British ''residual welfare'' model. He outlines a system for comparing national pension schemes to encourage international analysis and to obtain data that would be helpful in framing reforms. He maintains that the move to privatize state pensions is weakening with the advance in the benchmarking process between countries in the search for ''best practice''.