In the past several decades, pension plans have become one of the most significant institutional influences on labor and financial markets in the U.S. In an effort to understand the economic effects of this growth, the National Bureau of Economic Research embarked on a major research project in...

Pensions in the U.S. Economy is the fourth in a series on pensions from the National Bureau of Economic Research. For both economists and policymakers, this volume makes a valuable contribution to current research on pensions and the economics of the elderly. The contributors report on...

The only retirement contract that both insures against longevity risk and hedges against inflation is a life annuity that is linked to the consumer price index (CPI). It is denominated in the same units of account as Social Security benefits and, unlike nominal annuities, its payments can be...

Starting with his 1970 doctoral dissertation and continuing to today, Robert C. Merton has revolutionized the theory and practice of finance. In 1997, Merton shared a Nobel Prize in Economics “for a new method to determine the value of derivatives.” His contributions to the science of...

The objective of this paper is to explore two frequently ignored principles for the prudential management of financial systems at all levels of aggregation from a single individual to a national government. One of the ironies of the current global financial crisis is that the very innovations...

Starting with his 1970 doctoral dissertation and continuing to today, Robert C. Merton has revolutionized the theory and practice of finance. In 1997 Merton shared a Nobel Prize in Economics “for a new method to determine the value of derivatives.” His contributions to the science of...

Starting with his 1970 doctoral dissertation and continuing to today, Robert C. Merton has revolutionized the theory and practice of finance. In 1997 Merton shared a Nobel Prize in Economics “for a new method to determine the value of derivatives.” His contributions to the science of...

The Year in Review 2012 summarizes the offerings from the Research Foundation of CFA Institute over the past year — monographs, literature reviews, workshop presentations, and other relevant material

The third conference on the future of life-cycle saving and investing, entitled “Financial Education and Consumer Financial Protection,” was held at the Boston University School of Management on 23–25 May 2011. Like the previous two conferences, it was organized by Professor Zvi Bodie of...

This paper sets out an analytical framework for optimal asset allocation of sovereign wealth, based on the theory of contingent claims analysis applied to the sovereigns economic balance sheet. A country solves an asset-liability management problem involving its sources of income and its...