The reviewed book is the second volume of the anthology devoted to the discussion of the development of the nonfinancial defined contribution pension systems, both from the theoretical perspective as well as practice. While the first volume (in parts I–II) focused on lessons from implementation as well as discussion of countries’ experiences and considerations regarding the introduction of Nonfinancial Defined Contributions (NDC), the second volume (in parts III-VI) focuses on three topics, that are at the heart of both pension research and pension policy: gender, political economy and solvency, liquidity and stability of pension schemes. What is important, many of the chapters go beyond the perspective of NDC systems only and take a broader perspective, which in my opinion is an added value of the volume. Each of the chapters is accompanied by comments, which provide a reader with an additional perspective. The final chapters of the book included in part IV present discussion on NDCs in a broader picture, including funded systems and assessment of strengths and weaknesses of NDCs.

In the first part of the volume (part III), authors discuss various aspects of gender dimension of pensions in a (nonfinancial) defined contribution environment. James presents a broad overview of topics related to female participation in pension systems and their pension rights. Klerby, Larsson and Palmer in their chapter discuss the notion of sharing pension rights between couple's at retirement as a welfare improving measure from perspective of elderly widows. D'Addio, on the other hand, focuses on pension rights in a life course perspective, investigating how pension rights are granted for periods of child care in different pension systems (not only NDCs). Forteza and Rossi follow the same issue, looking at various types of pension systems (defined benefit, defined contribution, nonfinancial and financial) in the case of people with infrequent contributions. They conclude that NDC may provide better social protection than some NDBs (depending on systems design), as actuarial fairness may be welfare improving. Complimenting NDC with minimum pension provides a mechanism for poverty alleviation in the old-age. In my opinion, both of the chapters indicate one of the most important challenges that DC systems face, i.e. providing adequate pension provision for those who have short or broken labour market careers, which concern not only women in today's rising labour market flexibility and dynamics. Finally, Fajnzylber discusses the gender gap in the Chilean pension system in the context of the fading dominance of the male-breadwinner model in the country, recommending reforms that would reduce the risk of gender gap.

Part IV collects chapters that cover broad perspective of aspects related to political economy of pension systems. Boeri and Galasso in their chapter look at the interactions between NDC and labour market. As pensions in an NDC framework reflect the outcome of labour market trajectories of individuals, those with a bad start in the labour market also risk low pensions at the end of their working careers. The conclusion from the chapter is that the pension policy is not only about pension systems, but also employment policy, stimulating long working lives from entry to the labour market to (postponed if necessary) retirement. Bodor and Rutkowski focus on design and implementation of NDC pension systems – they show NDC as a design-process package that may be attractive to decision makers, using the theory of behavioural economics. Sunden focuses on the important issue of reaching participants with the NDC message, which is, in my view, one of the largest challenges for these schemes. Swedish experience with information provision, using the so-called ‘orange envelopes’, presented in the chapter, indicates that information and education efforts pay off. People open and read (at least a part) of information provided to them.

Part V comprises six chapters that focus on various aspects of financing and stability of NDC systems. The first chapter by Holzmann and Jousten focuses on legacy costs in NDC reforms. Pension reforms are usually implemented in a given context, usually related to lack of sustainability of existing pensions systems. Yet, as the authors of the chapter claim, it is important to measure and identify sources of financing of these costs in a way which does not undermine the reform itself. The following two chapters by Palmer and Palmer, Holzmann, Robalino reflect on concepts of NDC bonds (which draw from initial Buchanan idea) as well as reserve funds as means of risk sharing and managing financing of pension systems taking into account potential shocks. While the chapters have a more generic perspective, selected country experiences (including most notably Sweden) are also discussed. The chapter by Settergren provides an insight into the functioning of the actuarial accounting and balancing mechanism in Sweden, including the analysis of the first actual implementation of the balancing rule, including reduction of pensions in payment. Alho, Bravo and Palmer focus on the issue of the life expectancy risk in pension systems sustainability. Risk resulting from projections of life expectancy used for calculating annuities is frequently undervalued source of instability in pension systems, which also has inter-generational implications. Despite development of more and more sophisticated methods of life expectancy projections, this risk should not be omitted while analyzing long-term stability of pensions. Finally, the last chapter of Carmen Boado-Penas and Vidal-Melia looks into the actuarial balance of the PAYG systems treating NDC as benchmark for other DB-models. This chapter provides another perspective in which NDCs are useful, namely as a reference point for the assessment of sustainability of other types of pension schemes around the world.

The book finishes with a closing panel, with a discussion of NDC from perspective of FDC by Blake, assessment of strengths and weaknesses of NDC by Bovenberg, discussion of reserve funds in Sweden by Flam and reflections on NDC introduction in emerging economies, in particularly Arab and Egypt by Maait.

Overall, the book is a rich source for pension researchers and students. It provides an interesting and multi-faceted perspective for the readers, both within the covered themes and between them. It also clearly indicates that pension systems and their functioning should be seen in an overall life course perspective, as employment and family situation affects pensions, which is sometimes neglected in pension research.