We investigate the role of pensions as an element of total executive compensation, and the relationship between pensions and performance-based compensation in executive pay. Using hand-collected data on FTSE 100 CEOs and senior executives from 2004-2011, we document that pensions function as a...

This paper analyzes a tentative defined contribution plan, and compares it to the extant defined benefit plan. The analysis uses a general framework with different employee service assumptions and random investment returns to generate distributions for defined contribution plan accumulations and...

Companies that freeze defined benefit pension plans save the equivalent of 13.5 percent of the long-horizon payroll of current employees. Furthermore, firms with higher prospective accruals are more likely to freeze their plans. Cost savings would not be possible in a benchmark model in which i)...

The stock market collapse led to political tensions between generations due to the fuzzy definition of the property rights over the pension funds’ wealth. The problem is best resolved by the introduction of generational accounts. Modern consumption and portfolio theory shows that the younger...

This stochastic simulation analysis compares funding costs and volatilities for private sponsors of traditional defined benefit (DB), pension equity (PE), cash balance (CB), and defined contribution (DC) retirement plans. Plan provisions of equivalent benefit generosity in the different plan...

In June 2012, the regulatory framework for a promising new retirement savings vehicle, Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs), was passed into Canadian federal legislation. The hope is that PRPPs will improve pension coverage and retirement-saving outcomes by reducing costs and improving...

This study examined the profit-share pension model as a potential vehicle for generating capital accumulation and effecting a progressive redistribution of wealth. Taking the functions of the pension mechanism as the guiding principle, we attempted to incorporate a profit-share fund into a three...

This article examines how savings in defined contribution (DC) retirement plans vary across the earnings distribution. Specifically, the authors investigate the extent of an earnings gradient in access to, participation in, and levels of contribution to DC plans. Using a nationally...