Pension systems in Europe and Central Asia are facing unprecedented challenges. While many of the countries in the region have undertaken reforms when their economies encounter diffi cult times, these reforms are frequently reversed as soon as the situation improves. However, the demographic trends in the region require new, sustained efforts toward changing the pension system to provide adequate yet sustainable benefi ts. The Inverting Pyramid documents the progressive generosity of pension systems in Europe since inception, with current popular expectations based on recent generous...

What can be done to create more and better jobs in Europe and Central Asia? And should there be specific policies to help workers access those jobs? The authors of this book examine these questions through the lens of two contextual factors: the legacy of centralized planned economies and the mounting demographic pressures associated with rapid aging in some countries and soaring numbers of youth entering the workforce in others. The authors find the following: - Market reforms pay off, albeit with a lag, in terms of jobs and productivity. - A small fraction of superstar high-growth firms...

Fifty years ago, health outcomes in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia were not far behind those in Western Europe and well ahead of most other regions of the world. But progress since then has been slow. While life expectancy in the ECA region today is close to the global average, the gap with its western neighbors has doubled, and other middle-income regions have all surpassed ECA. Some countries in the region are doing better, but full convergence with the world's most advanced health systems is still a long way off. At the same time, survey evidence suggests that the health...