Abstract

The paper esamines the consistency of the Italian pensions reform of 1995 vis-a-vis the objectives that had motivated it. With respect to long run prospects, it shows that the new system - theoretically able to produce long run financial equilibrium between revenues and expenditures - has adopted technical solutions that a) provide pension benefits too high with respect to contributions, b) contain too many special provisions and exceptions, c) do not provide timely adjustments to demographic changes. With respect to short and medium term prospects, it stresses that the transition from the "old" to the "new" regime is very slow and provides inadequate treatment to important questions of horizontal equity. The paper suggests an agenda for the forthcoming 1997 correction of the 1995 reform and a proposal for a division of labour between Government, Parliament and trade unions on the different topics of the agenda. An appendix presents a summary of the revisions actually adopted in the fall of 1997.