Governance of Supplementary Pensions in Europe: Cross-national Variations in Participation and Social Inequality

The shift towards non-state supplementary pensions across Europe raises fundamental issues regarding governance especially in respect to guaranteeing basic participatory and social rights. As a result of different state or collective regulation, the coverage, the benefit formula, and the funding modes vary across supplementary pension systems. Based on country studies, this international project compares the evolution of supplementary pensions, focusing on the role of the state and social partners in regulating private and occupational pensions. The project investigates the impact of these pension governance modes: The study will show how different social groups (such as full-time/part-time employed, normal/atypical workers) are insured through supplementary pensions, how their interests are represented in such pen-sion funds, and how their retirement income will be affected by national and sector-specific contexts. The comparison of Germany with nine European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Fin