Because employer-sponsored group pension plans entail agreements between workers and their employers explicitly linking future payment and employment, they offer an unusual window into long-term employment relationships. This review of recent research on pensions explores how pensions influence employee compensation, retirement, turnover, and other matters central to the determination of labor's price and quantity over time. The authors also outline some unanswered questions and difficult-to-reconcile findings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbowdJohn M.ManasterSteven. 1982. “A General Model of Employment Contracting: An Application of Option Theory.” Unpublished manuscript, University of Chicago.
2.
AldersonMichaelVanderheiJack. 1991. “Disturbing the Balance in Corporate Pension Policy: The Case of Excess Asset Reversion Legislation.”Benefits Quarterly, Third Quarter.
3.
AllenSteven G.ClarkRobert L., 1986. “Unions, Pension Wealth, and Age-Compensation Profiles.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 39, No. 4 (July), pp. 502–17.
4.
AllenSteven G.ClarkRobert L.McDermedAnn A., 1992. “Postretirement Benefit Increases in the 1980s.” In TurnerJohn A.BellerDaniel J., eds., Trends in Pensions. Washington, D.C.: GPO, pp. 319–40.
5.
AllenSteven G.ClarkRobert L.McDermedAnn A., 1993. “Pension Bonding and Lifetime Jobs.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Summer), pp. 463–81.
6.
AllenSteven G.ClarkRobert L.SumnerDaniel. 1986. “Post Retirement Adjustments of Pensions.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Winter), pp. 118–37.
7.
AndrewsEmily. 1985. The Changing Profile of Pensions in America. Washington, D.C.: Employee Benefit Research Institute.
8.
BellerDaniel J.LawrenceHelen H., 1992. “Trends in Private Pension Coverage.” In TurnerJohnBellerDaniel J., eds., Trends in Pensions. Washington, D.C.: GPO.
9.
BerkovecJames C.SternSteven. 1991. “Job Exit Behavior of Older Men.”Econometrica, Vol. 59, No. 1 (January), pp. 189–210.
10.
BerkowitzStephen A.LogueDennis E., 1986. “Investment Performance of Corporate Pension Plans.”Washington, D.C.: Report submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor.
11.
BlinderAlan S.1981. Private Pensions and Public Pensions: Theory and Fact. W.S. Woytinsky Lecture No. 5. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, December.
12.
BloomDavid E.FreemanRichard B., 1992. “The Fall in Private Pension Coverage in the U.S.”American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 82, No. 2 (May), pp. 539–45.
13.
BodieZvi. 1990. “Pensions as Retirement Income Insurance.”Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 28, No. 1 (March), pp. 28–49.
14.
BulowJeremy I.1981. “Early Retirement Pension Benefits.”National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 654, April.
15.
BulowJeremy I.1982. “What Are Corporate Pension Liabilities?”Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 97, No. 3 (August), pp. 435–52.
16.
BurkhauserRichard V.1979. “The Pension Acceptance Decision of Older Workers.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Winter), pp. 63–75.
17.
CarmichaelH. Lome. 1989. “Self-Enforcing Contracts, Shirking, and Life Cycle Incentives.”Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Fall), pp. 65–84.
18.
ClarkRobert L.McDermedAnn A., 1990. The Choice of Pension Plans in a Changing Regulatory Environment. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute.
19.
Congressional Budget Office. 1987. Tax Policy for Pensions and Retirement Savings. Washington, D.C.: GPO, April.
20.
CornwellChristopherDorseyStuartMehrzadNasser. 1991. “Opportunistic Behavior of Firms in Implicit Pension Contracts.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Fall), pp. 704–25.
21.
DiamondPeter A.MirrleesJames A., 1985. “Insurance Aspects of Pensions.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Pensions, Labor, and Individual Choice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 317–56.
22.
DorseyStuart. 1982. “A Model and Empirical Estimates of Worker Pension Coverage in the U.S.”Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 49, No. 2 (October), pp. 506–20.
23.
Employee Benefit Research Institute. 1992. “New Findings from the March 1991 CPS on Pension Coverage and Participation.”Employee Benefit Notes, March.
24.
EvenWilliam E.MacphersonDavid A., 1991. “Employer Size and Pension Coverage.”Oxford, Ohio: Unpublished paper, January.
25.
EvenWilliam E.MacphersonDavid A., 1992. “Pensions, Labor Turnover, and Employer Size.”Oxford, Ohio: Unpublished paper, May.
26.
EvenWilliam E.MacphersonDavid A., 1994. “Why Did Male Pension Coverage Decline in the 1980s?”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 47, No. 3 (April), pp. 439–53.
27.
FeldsteinMartin. 1983. “Should Private Pensions Be Indexed?” In BodieZviShovenJohn B., eds., Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 211–30.
28.
FieldsGary S.MitchellOlivia S.1984. Retirement, Pensions, and Social Security. Cambridge: MIT Press.
29.
FreemanRichard B.1985. “Unions, Pensions, and Union Pension Funds.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Pensions, Labor, and Individual Choice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 89–121.
30.
FriedmanBenjaminWarshawskyMark. 1987. “Annuity Prices and Savings Behavior in the United States.” In BodieZviShovenJohn B.WiseDavid A., eds., Pensions in the U.S. Economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 53–84.
31.
GoodfellowGordon P.SchieberSylvester J., 1992. “Death and Taxes: Can We Fund for Retirement Between?” In SchmittRay, The Future of Pensions in the United States. Pension Research Council, 1993.
32.
GordonRoger H.BlinderAlan S., 1980. “Market Wages, Reservation Wages, and Retirement.”Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 14, No. 2 (October), pp. 277–308.
33.
GreenJerry. 1985. “The Riskiness of Private Pensions.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Pensions, Labor, and Individual Choice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 357–75.
34.
GustmanAlan L.MitchellOlivia S., 1992. “Pensions and the Labor Market: Behavior and Data Requirements.” In BodieZviMunnellAlicia, eds., Pensions and the U.S. Economy: The Need for Good Data. Philadelphia: Pension Research Council, pp. 39–87.
35.
GustmanAlan L.MitchellOlivia S.SteinmeierThomas L., 1993. “Retirement Research Using the Health and Retirement Survey.” Paper presented at Health and Retirement Survey Early Results Workshop, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan.
36.
GustmanAlan L.SteinmeierThomas L., 1985. “The Effects of Partial Retirement on Wage Profiles of Older Workers.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 257–65.
GustmanAlan L.SteinmeierThomas L., 1986b. “A Disaggregated Structural Analysis of Retirement by Race, Difficulty of Work, and Health.”Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 67, No. 3 (August), pp. 509–13.
39.
GustmanAlan L.SteinmeierThomas L., 1989. “An Analysis of Pension Benefit Formulas, Pension Wealth, and Incentives from Pensions.” In EhrenbergRonald, ed., Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 10. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, pp. 33–106.
40.
GustmanAlan L.SteinmeierThomas L., 1992. “The Stampede Toward Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Fact or Fiction?”Industrial Relations, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 361–69.
41.
GustmanAlan L.SteinmeierThomas L., 1993a. “Cost of Living Adjustments in Pensions.” In MitchellOlivia S., ed., As the Workforce Ages: Costs, Benefits, and Policy Challenges. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, pp. 147–82.
42.
GustmanAlan L.SteinmeierThomas L., 1993b. “Pension Portability and Labor Mobility: Evidence from the Survey of Income and Program Participation.”Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 50 (March), pp. 299–323.
43.
Hay/Huggins Company, Inc. 1990. Pension Plan Cost Study. Washington, D.C.: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
44.
HurdMichael D.1990. “The Joint Retirement Decision of Husbands and Wives.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Issues in the Economics of Aging. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 231–54.
45.
HurdMichael D.1990. “Research on the Elderly: Economic Status, Retirement, and Consumption and Saving.”Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 28, No. 2 (June), pp. 565–637.
46.
HutchensRobert. 1986. “Delayed Payment Contracts and a Firm's Propensity to Hire Older Workers.”Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 4, No. 4 (October), pp. 439–57.
47.
HutchensRobert. 1987. “A Test of Lazear's Theory of Delayed Payment Contract.”Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 5, No. 4 (October), Part 2, pp. S153–170.
48.
HutchensRobert. 1989. “Seniority, Wages, and Productivity: A Turbulent Decade.”Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Fall), pp. 49–64.
49.
IppolitoRichard. 1985a. “The Labor Contract and True Economic Pension Liabilities.”American Economic. Review, Vol. 75, No. 5 (December), pp. 1031–43.
50.
IppolitoRichard. 1985b. “The Economic Function of Underfunded Pension Plans.”Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 28, No. 3 (October), pp. 611–51.
51.
IppolitoRichard. 1986a. Pensions, Economics, and Public Policy. Pension Research Council. Homewood, Ill.: Dow Jones-Irwin.
52.
IppolitoRichard. 1986b. “Pension Terminations for Reversion.”Journal of Pension Planning and Compliance,Vol. 12, No. 3, (Fall), pp. 221–42.
53.
IppolitoRichard. 1987a. “Why Federal Workers Don't Quit.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 281–93.
54.
IppolitoRichard. 1987b. “The Implicit Pension Contract: Developments and New Directions.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Summer), pp. 441–64.
55.
IppolitoRichard. 1989. The Economics of Pension Insurance. Pension Research Council. Homewood, Ill.: Dow Jones-Irwin.
56.
IppolitoRichard. 1990a. An Economic Appraisal of Pension Tax Policy. Pension Research Council. Homewood, Ill.: Dow Jones-Irwin.
57.
IppolitoRichard. 1990b. “Toward Explaining Earlier Retirement After 1970.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 43, No. 5 (July), pp. 556–69.
58.
IppolitoRichard. Forthcoming. “Pensions and Indenture Premia.”Journal of Human Resources.
59.
IppolitoRichard. 1992a. “Selecting Out High Discounters: A Theory of Defined Contribution Pensions.” Unpublished paper. Washington, D.C.: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, January.
60.
KotlikoffLaurence J.SpivakAvia. 1981. “The Family as an Incomplete Annuities Market.”Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 89, No. 2 (April), pp. 372–91.
61.
KotlikoffLaurence J.WiseDavid A., 1985. “Labor Compensation and the Structure of Private Pension Plans: Evidence for Contractual vs. Spot Labor Markets.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Pensions, Labor, and Individual Choice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 55–85.
62.
KotlikoffLaurence J.WiseDavid A., 1987. “The Incentive Effects of Private Pension Plans.” In BodieZviShovenJohn B.WiseDavid A., eds., Issues in Pension Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 283–336.
63.
KruegerAlan B.SummersLawrence. 1988. “Efficiency Wages and the Interindustry Wage Structure.”Econometrica, Vol. 56, No. 2 (March), pp. 259–93.
64.
KruseDouglas L.1991. “Pension Substitution in the 1980's: Why the Shift Toward Defined Contribution Pension Plans?” NBER Working Paper No. 3882, October.
65.
LakonishokJ.ShleiferA.VishnyR. W., 1992. “The Structure and Performance of the Money Management Industry.”Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Microeconomics.
66.
LazearEdward P.1979. “Why Is There Mandatory Retirement?”Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 87, No. 6 (December), pp. 1261–84.
67.
LazearEdward P.1983. “Pensions as Severance Pay.” In BodieZviShovenJohn B.WiseDavid A., eds., Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 57–85.
68.
LazearEdward P.MooreRobert L., 1988. “Pensions and Mobility.” In BodieZviShovenJohn B.WiseDavid A., eds., Pensions in the U.S. Economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 163–88.
69.
LongJames E.ScottFrank A., 1982. “The Income Tax and Nonwage Compensation.”Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 64, No. 2 (May), pp. 211–19.
70.
LumsdaineRobinStockJamesWiseDavid A., 1990. “Efficient Windows and Labor Force Reduction.”Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 43, No. 2 (November), pp. 131–59.
71.
LuzadisRebecca A.MitchellOlivia S., 1991. “Explaining Pension Dynamics.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Fall), pp. 679–703.
72.
MertonRobertBodieZviMarcusAlan J., 1987. “Pension Plan Integration as Insurance Against Social Security Risk.” In ShovenJohnWiseDavid A., eds., Issues in Pension Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 147–69.
73.
MitchellOlivia S.1982. “Fringe Benefits and Labor Mobility.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 286–98.
74.
MitchellOlivia S.1988. “Worker Knowledge of Pension Provisions.”Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 6, No. 1 (January), pp. 28–39.
75.
MitchellOlivia S.1990. “Aging, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance.” In BluestoneI.MontgomeryR.OwenJ., eds., An Aging Workforce. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. 242–72.
76.
MitchellOlivia S.1992. “Trends in Retirement Provisions.” In TurnerJ.BellerD., eds., Trends in Pensions, 1992. Washington, D.C.: GPO, pp. 177–216.
77.
MitchellOlivia S.AndrewsEmily. 1981. “Scale Economies in Private Multi-Employer Pension Systems.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 34, No. 4 (July), pp. 522–30.
78.
MitchellOlivia S.FieldsGary S., 1982. “The Effects of Pensions and Earnings on Retirement: A Review Essay.” In EhrenbergR., ed., Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 5. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, pp. 115–56.
79.
MitchellOlivia S.LuzadisRebecca A., 1988. “Changes in Pension Incentives Through Time.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 42, No. 1 (October), pp. 100–108.
80.
MontgomeryEdwardShawKathrynBenedictMary Ellen. 1992. “Pensions and Wages: An Hedonic Price Theory Approach.”International Economic Review, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 111–28.
81.
MunnellAlicia H.YohnFrederick. 1992. “What Is the Impact of Pensions on Savings?” In BodieZviMunnellAlicia, eds, Pensions and the U.S. Economy: The Need for Good Data. Philadelphia: Pension Research Council, pp. 115–39.
82.
NalebuffBarryZeckhauserRichard J., 1985. “Pensions and the Retirement Decision.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Pensions, Labor, and Individual Choice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 283–316.
83.
OiWalter. 1983. “The Durability of Worker-Firm Attachments.” Unpublished paper, University of Rochester.
84.
ParsonsDonald O.1988. “Aging and the Employment Contract.” Unpublished paper, Ohio State University, November.
85.
ParsonsDonald O.1991. “The Decline in Private Pension Coverage in the United States.”Economics Letters, Vol. 36, pp. 419–23.
86.
PesandoJames E.GundersonMorley. 1987. “Retirement Incentives Contained in Occupational Pension Plans and Their Implications for the Mandatory Retirement Debate.” Unpublished paper, University of Toronto.
87.
PetersenMitchell A.1992. “Pension Reversions and Worker Stockholder Wealth.”Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 107, No. 3 (August), pp. 1033–56.
88.
PozzebonSilvanaMitchellOlivia S., 1989. “Married Women's Retirement Behavior.”Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 301–53.
89.
QuinnJoseph F.BurkhauserRichard V.MyersDaniel A., 1990. Passing the Torch: The Influence of Economic Incentives on Work and Retirement. Kalamazoo, Mich.: W.E. Upjohn Institute.
90.
RebickMarcus. 1993. “Findingjobs for Older Workers: The Japanese Approach.” In MitchellOlivia S., ed., As the Workforce Ages: Costs, Benefits, and Policy Challenges. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, pp. 103–24.
91.
RobbA. L.BurbidgeJ. B., 1989. “Consumption, Income, and Retirement.”Canadian Journal of Economics, Vol. 22, No. 3 (August), pp. 522–42.
92.
RossA.1958. “Do We Have a New Industrial Feudalism?”American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 5 (December), pp. 918–22.
93.
RustJohn. 1990. “Behavior of Male Workers at the End of the Life Cycle: An Empirical Analysis of States and Controls.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Issues in the Economics of Aging. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 317–79.
94.
StockJames H.WiseDavid A., 1990a. “The Pension Inducement to Retire: An Option Value Analysis.” In WiseDavid A., ed., Issues in the Economics of Aging. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 205–24.
95.
StockJames H.WiseDavid A., 1990b. “Pensions, the Option Value of Work, and Retirement.”Econometrica, Vol. 58, No. 5 (September), pp. 1151–80.
96.
SummersLawrence J.1983. “Observations on the Indexation of Old Age Pensions.” In BodieZviShovenJohn B., eds., Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 231–51.
97.
ThalerRichardShefrinH. M., 1981. “Pensions, Savings, and Temptation.” Cornell University: Graduate School of Business and Public Administration Working Paper No. 81-26, November.
98.
ThompsonLawrence H.1983. “The Social Security Reform Debate.”Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 21, No. 4 (December), pp. 1425–67.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1964. Labor Mobility and Private Pension Plans. Bulletin No. 1407.
102.
WeissYoram. 1985. “The Effect of Labor Unions on Investment in Training: A Dynamic Model.”Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 93, No. 5 (October), pp. 994–1007.
103.
WoodburyStephen A.1983. “Substitution Between Wage and Nonwage Benefits.”American Economic Review, Vol. 73, No. 1 (March), pp. 166–82.
104.
WoodburyStephen A.HuangWei-Jang. 1991. The Tax Treatment of Fringe Benefits. Kalamazoo, Mich.: W.E. Upjohn Institute.