《OECD国家因应人口老化之财政政策试析》.pdf

OECD 國家因應人口老化之財政政策試析 OECD 國家因應人口老化 之財政政策試析 林 俊 儒∗ 壹、前言 肆、人口老化下的財政政策 貳、人口老化現象 伍、結語與建議 參、人口老化對政府財政之影響 摘 要 OECD 國家隨著生育率降低及平均壽命延長，已面臨日趨嚴 重的人口老化問題。各國為因應高齡化對財政狀況的衝擊，已提 出財政面向的因應策略。鑒於租稅負擔的平均水準已屬偏高，絕 大多數 OECD 國家並不考慮以加稅的方式支應人口老化遞增的支 出需求，其財政政策的重心係以縮減人口老化相關支出，包括老 年年金、醫療照護支出及提前退休方案等為主，透過現行社會安 全制度的改革以限縮支出，遏止財政赤字惡化及債務累積，邁向 財政永續的正軌。 ∗ 經濟研究處科員。本文承蒙洪處長瑞彬、陳副處長寶瑞、洪組長慧燕、黃專門委員建興、 匿名審查學者及本處多位同仁提供諸多寶貴建議，謹此致謝。惟文中若有任何疏漏，當屬 筆者之責。 Volume 7 Economic Research 135 經濟研究 第 7 期 An Analysis of OECD Fiscal Policies in the Context of Population Ageing Chun-ju Lin Analyst Economic Research Department, CEPD Abstract With fertility rates falling and average life expectancy lengthening, OECD countries have been facing increasingly severe problems of population aging, and have already come up with various fiscal policy initiatives to cope with the resulting impact on their public finances. Given the already high average level of their tax burden, most OECD countries are not considering increasing taxes as a means of meeting the escalating spending needs arising from population aging. Instead, they are focusing on cutting old-age- related expenditures. Through social security reform and expenditure cuts in such areas as old-age pensions,