Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

go policies´ (Schömann 2006: 135) in both countries had a clear goal of blame avoidance
(in the meaning of Weaver 1986).
Another barrier to the prolongation of working life in the case of Poland was leaving
several occupational group outside of the reformed pension system (farmers, judges,
prosecutors, the armed forces), or preserving preferential rulings for them within the
reformed pension system. The relatively high replacement rates of the Polish old-age
pension system and its high coverage generated positive feedback and lock-in effects
(Müller 2004: 382) and made it difficult both to conduct a radical pension reform and to
change the individual retirement behaviour.
Moreover, quite in contrast to Germany, the unemployment pathway of early exit has
not been stopped, pre-retirement benefits being still available for persons dismissed for
operational reasons five years prior to retirement age. Blöndal and Scarpetta (1999: 46)
have shown that not removing incentives to early exit in all sub-systems of social security
invites evasive behaviour. On top of that, persons born before 1948 retire under the old
pension system, in which accrual rates (Börsch/Supan; Schnabel 1999: 160) past the earliest
age of entitlement to the old-age pension are negative and the labour/leisure choice is
usually made on behalf of the second option.
As regards labour market reforms, a barrier to the prolongation of working life is the
lack of a pro-active attitude of employment offices in cooperation with employers. Many
officials in Germany do not know the available job promotion instruments, and cannot
advertise them among employers (BmAS 2006b: xviii-xix; Eichhorst 2006a: 108). In
Poland, that barrier was also named by one firm representative. Also the Polish jobcentre
officials concern themselves as insufficiently suited for job promotion on behalf of
´50pluses´ (Tokarz 2007b: 17-18) and are joined in this assessment by institutional experts
(Perek-Białas/Ruzik 2004b: 435-6).
Occupational education of older workers in Poland and Germany is low compared to
other OECD and EU countries (OECD 2005b; quoted after MPiPS 2008: 41). The Polish
system of adult education is underdeveloped also in institutional terms (MPiPS 2008: 40-
41). Educational vouchers which can be used for in-service training of older workers were
introduced only recently. In Germany, similar subsidies are rarely known and used even
rarer (Hartlapp/Schmid 2006: 171).
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