Pension policies have been an important topic of political economy. After the introduction of major approaches seeking to explain policy problems, solutions, and actor constellations, the chapter illustrates the main challenges in ageing societies such as long-term fiscal and social pressures on the sustainability and adequacy of pension systems. Furthermore, it outlines the key reform dynamics overcoming path dependence. A major paradigm shift as result of ongoing reform processes has been the privatisation and financialisation of pensions. As part of multipillar pension systems, occupational and personal pensions as well as financial market dynamics and financial actors play an increasingly important role. The last section deals with pension governance comparing public and private schemes, discussing the potential conflicts of interests between individuals and agents, and between the social partners and financial players. By way of conclusion, we consider future challenges and developments.
