E. Philip Davis

Coping with the ageing of the population without major economic disruption is undoubtedly one of the major challenges facing the global economy and world financial markets both now and for the coming decades. In this context, this book assesses the major economic issues raised by occupational pension funds, as they have arisen in 12 OECD countries---the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as in Chile and Singapore. Particular emphasis is placed on the performance of funds in financial markets, the influence on funds of fiscal and regulatory conditions, and the consequences of funds' development for capital markets, corporate finance and international investment. The relationship with social security, the comparativ advantages of defined benefit and defined contribution funds and the role of funds in developing countries are also examined in detail.

A remarkable feature of the period since 1970 has been the patterns of rapid and turbulent change in financing behaviour and financial structure in many advanced countries. These patterns have, in turn, often been marked by rising indebtedness, default on loans and periods of financial instability, whether in the non-financial sectors, the financial sector or both. This book explores, both in theoretical and empirical terms, the nature of the relationships between underlying phenomena; namely levels and changes in borrowing (debt), vulnerability to default in the corporate and household sectors (financial fragility), and widespread disorder in the financial sector (systemic risk). Davis focuses on the wider generality of the phenomena at issue whereby similar patterns are observable in several countries, but not in others, as well as in the international capital markets themselves. Particular attention is paid to the importance of the nature and evolution of financial structure to the genesis of instability. Given the international scope of the analysis, the work is germane to the study of the devlopment of financial systems in all advanced countries, as well as the euromarkets. It will be of particular relevance, however, in the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, and Canada, Italy, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, whose experience is examined in detail. In this expanded and revised edition, the macroeconomic consequences of fragility and the appropriate policy response are examined in particular detail, with the analysis focusing on macroeconomic performance in eleven countries over 1988-93. A wide range of issues relating to financial stability, including risk in payments systems, derivatives, and property lending, are also considered.