Analysis of the Optimal Choice of Pension System in Palestine

This thesis aims to explore the optimal choice of retirement system for the Palestinian case motivated primarily by the problems of high poverty rate and the noticeably low coverage rate of social security.
Accordingly, the first chapter focused on the environmental analysis of the Palestinian case. The second chapter focused on the literature review of social security. The third chapter explores the access rate to social security systems in each aspect of social security by socioeconomic characteristics. While, fourth chapter present an econometric analysis about the decision to participate at the pension system. Finally, chapter five presents and discusses guidelines for an optimal alternative pension reform followed by a projection test for proposed parameters of DB scheme using PROST model (World Bank) in several scenarios. The results determined the most important characteristics that increase the probability to participate to a pension system. Further, the projection shows the proper contribution rates in each unemployment scenario and its impact on the balance of the system and adequacy of income given the specific situation of females in Palestine.

Keywords : Palestine, Poverty, Social Security Systems, Retirement, PROST Model, Middle East, Development.