Pub Date : 2012-10-01DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53759-1.00003-0
Raj Chetty, Amy N. Finkelstein
{"title":"Social Insurance: Connecting Theory to Data","authors":"Raj Chetty, Amy N. Finkelstein","doi":"10.1016/B978-0-444-53759-1.00003-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53759-1.00003-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75461764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The rapid transition from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans has a potential benefit of offering pension holders greater control over how their pension accumulations are invested. If pension holders are willing to take some risk, investments in the stock market could increase their economic preparation for retirement, and, indeed, economic theory as well as the typical advice of financial advisors calls for stock market investments. Yet, the rate of stock holding is much below what theory suggests it should be, undoing any benefit associated with the greater control coming from DC plans. The leading explanations for this under-investing include excessive risk aversion, costs of entry, and misperceptions about possible returns in the stock market. We show that excessive risk aversion is not able to account for the low fraction of stock holding. However, a model with heterogeneous subjective expectations about stock market returns is able to account for low stock market participation, and tracks the share of risky assets conditional on participation reasonably well. Based on the model with subjective expectations, we estimate a welfare loss of up to 12% compared to investment under rational expectations, if actual returns follow the same distribution as in the past 50 years. The policy implication is that there is considerable scope for welfare improvement as a result of consumer education regarding stock market returns. However, the welfare loss is much smaller if individuals are not very risk averse or if actual returns follow the same distribution as in the past 10 years.
{"title":"Investment Decisions in Retirement: The Role of Subjective Expectations","authors":"M. Angrisani, M. Hurd, Erik Meijer","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2188403","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2188403","url":null,"abstract":"The rapid transition from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans has a potential benefit of offering pension holders greater control over how their pension accumulations are invested. If pension holders are willing to take some risk, investments in the stock market could increase their economic preparation for retirement, and, indeed, economic theory as well as the typical advice of financial advisors calls for stock market investments. Yet, the rate of stock holding is much below what theory suggests it should be, undoing any benefit associated with the greater control coming from DC plans. The leading explanations for this under-investing include excessive risk aversion, costs of entry, and misperceptions about possible returns in the stock market. We show that excessive risk aversion is not able to account for the low fraction of stock holding. However, a model with heterogeneous subjective expectations about stock market returns is able to account for low stock market participation, and tracks the share of risky assets conditional on participation reasonably well. Based on the model with subjective expectations, we estimate a welfare loss of up to 12% compared to investment under rational expectations, if actual returns follow the same distribution as in the past 50 years. The policy implication is that there is considerable scope for welfare improvement as a result of consumer education regarding stock market returns. However, the welfare loss is much smaller if individuals are not very risk averse or if actual returns follow the same distribution as in the past 10 years.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"2017 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86758151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas Post, Helmut Gründl, Joan T. Schmit, Anja Zimmer
The industrialized world experiences a demographic shift that is straining public pension systems. Employer-sponsored pension plans change from defined benefit to defined contribution. More emphasis is put on individually managed retirement funds. One concern with this movement is the potential negative effect on individual welfare if households’ investment behavior is suboptimal. Using micro-level U.S. data, we compare the optimal utility computed using a life-cycle model with the actual utility as reflected in empirical asset allocation choices. Average estimated welfare costs estimated are below three percent of households’ endowment (assets and human capital); yet specific population groups experience higher welfare costs.
{"title":"The Impact of Investment Behavior for Individual Welfare","authors":"Thomas Post, Helmut Gründl, Joan T. Schmit, Anja Zimmer","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1129143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1129143","url":null,"abstract":"The industrialized world experiences a demographic shift that is straining public pension systems. Employer-sponsored pension plans change from defined benefit to defined contribution. More emphasis is put on individually managed retirement funds. One concern with this movement is the potential negative effect on individual welfare if households’ investment behavior is suboptimal. Using micro-level U.S. data, we compare the optimal utility computed using a life-cycle model with the actual utility as reflected in empirical asset allocation choices. Average estimated welfare costs estimated are below three percent of households’ endowment (assets and human capital); yet specific population groups experience higher welfare costs.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84908555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As aging of the U.S. population places increased demands on public programs such as Social Security, an important question is how long older Americans are willing and able to work before they retire from the labor force. While studies based on household surveys have provided information on the role of savings, health status, pension and health insurance coverage, there is relatively little information on how workplace and employer characteristics affect the employment of older workers. In this study we use linked employer-employee data to explore the relationship between the characteristics of jobs held at age 55 and early retirement. We focus on a sample of 63-year-olds drawn from the 2005-2008 American Community Survey. We match this sample to information on their earnings, employment, employers and coworkers drawn from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data for the years in which they age from 55 to 63. We use employment status as reported in the ACS to split the sample into those who have retired by age 63 and those who continue to work. We then examine differences between early retirees and continuing workers in the characteristics of their employment at age 55, and at how these characteristics change as they approach age 63. We find that early retirees are more likely to be employed by larger employers at age 55 than are continuers. They work for employers with somewhat higher pay than do continuers, and are less likely to have young coworkers.
{"title":"Workplace Characteristics and Employment of Older Workers","authors":"Chinhui Juhn, Kristin McCue","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2205216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2205216","url":null,"abstract":"As aging of the U.S. population places increased demands on public programs such as Social Security, an important question is how long older Americans are willing and able to work before they retire from the labor force. While studies based on household surveys have provided information on the role of savings, health status, pension and health insurance coverage, there is relatively little information on how workplace and employer characteristics affect the employment of older workers. In this study we use linked employer-employee data to explore the relationship between the characteristics of jobs held at age 55 and early retirement. We focus on a sample of 63-year-olds drawn from the 2005-2008 American Community Survey. We match this sample to information on their earnings, employment, employers and coworkers drawn from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data for the years in which they age from 55 to 63. We use employment status as reported in the ACS to split the sample into those who have retired by age 63 and those who continue to work. We then examine differences between early retirees and continuing workers in the characteristics of their employment at age 55, and at how these characteristics change as they approach age 63. We find that early retirees are more likely to be employed by larger employers at age 55 than are continuers. They work for employers with somewhat higher pay than do continuers, and are less likely to have young coworkers.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75231819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The rising cost of U.S. health care has reduced the share of compensation that is taxable by Social Security. Between 1960 and 2010, non-taxable employer premiums for worker health plans increased from 1 percent of employee compensation to 7 percent. We use international data to examine the determinants of trends in health care spending and the reasons that the U.S. experience has differed from that of other high-income countries. In 2010, the share of U.S. gross domestic product devoted to health care was 7.2 percentage points higher than the share in other rich countries. We document the growth of this gap in the past five decades. Much of it developed between 1980 and the mid-1990s, though we also find another episode of outsized growth in the early 2000s. We identify six countries, including most of Scandinavia, which have seen a slowdown in health spending growth. These were also countries that had higher-than expected health spending, given their average incomes, in the 1960s and 1970s. The slowdown in health expenditure growth may simply reflect a reversion of their spending toward the OECD mean. We find no mean reversion in U.S. health spending growth. Our review of other literature suggests that the current excess in U.S. health costs is mainly traceable to higher prices for health care goods and services. Compared with other OECD countries, the United States has been slow to develop institutions or global budget constraints that restrain the pace of growth in health costs.
{"title":"Growth in Health Consumption and Its Implications for Financing OASDI: An International Perspective","authors":"B. Bosworth, Gary T. Burtless","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2149134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2149134","url":null,"abstract":"The rising cost of U.S. health care has reduced the share of compensation that is taxable by Social Security. Between 1960 and 2010, non-taxable employer premiums for worker health plans increased from 1 percent of employee compensation to 7 percent. We use international data to examine the determinants of trends in health care spending and the reasons that the U.S. experience has differed from that of other high-income countries. In 2010, the share of U.S. gross domestic product devoted to health care was 7.2 percentage points higher than the share in other rich countries. We document the growth of this gap in the past five decades. Much of it developed between 1980 and the mid-1990s, though we also find another episode of outsized growth in the early 2000s. We identify six countries, including most of Scandinavia, which have seen a slowdown in health spending growth. These were also countries that had higher-than expected health spending, given their average incomes, in the 1960s and 1970s. The slowdown in health expenditure growth may simply reflect a reversion of their spending toward the OECD mean. We find no mean reversion in U.S. health spending growth. Our review of other literature suggests that the current excess in U.S. health costs is mainly traceable to higher prices for health care goods and services. Compared with other OECD countries, the United States has been slow to develop institutions or global budget constraints that restrain the pace of growth in health costs.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73965877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana M. Albuquerque, Gus De Franco, Rodrigo S. Verdi
Current research shows that firms are more likely to benchmark against peers that pay their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) higher compensation, reflecting self-serving behavior. We propose an alternative explanation: the choice of highly paid peers represents a reward for unobserved CEO talent. We test this hypothesis by decomposing the effect of peer selection into talent and self-serving components. Consistent with our prediction, we find that the association between a firm’s selection of highly paid peers and CEO pay mostly represents compensation for CEO talent.
{"title":"Peer Choice in CEO Compensation","authors":"Ana M. Albuquerque, Gus De Franco, Rodrigo S. Verdi","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1362047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1362047","url":null,"abstract":"Current research shows that firms are more likely to benchmark against peers that pay their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) higher compensation, reflecting self-serving behavior. We propose an alternative explanation: the choice of highly paid peers represents a reward for unobserved CEO talent. We test this hypothesis by decomposing the effect of peer selection into talent and self-serving components. Consistent with our prediction, we find that the association between a firm’s selection of highly paid peers and CEO pay mostly represents compensation for CEO talent.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"224 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83212170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study aims to measure the effects of certain demographic factors that may determine the likelihood of passing the Jordanian Certified Public Accountants exam. The researcher used Logistic Binary Regression Analysis to examine the relationship between the result of the exam (pass or fail) as the dependent variable and certain demographic attributes as the independent variables which encompasses: experience, university performance designation, Universities, and area of specialization. Results of the study revealed that university performance, area of specialization, Jordanian and other universities graduates, are significant variables that increase the likelihood of passing the unified JCPA exam.
{"title":"The Relationship between Professional Exam Performance and Certain Demographic Characteristics of Jordanian Certified Public Accountants Candidates","authors":"M. Momany","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2134406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2134406","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to measure the effects of certain demographic factors that may determine the likelihood of passing the Jordanian Certified Public Accountants exam. The researcher used Logistic Binary Regression Analysis to examine the relationship between the result of the exam (pass or fail) as the dependent variable and certain demographic attributes as the independent variables which encompasses: experience, university performance designation, Universities, and area of specialization. Results of the study revealed that university performance, area of specialization, Jordanian and other universities graduates, are significant variables that increase the likelihood of passing the unified JCPA exam.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88821675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-08-17DOI: 10.17159/1727-3781/2012/V15I2A2499
Motseotsile Clement Marumoagae
Over the years, the South African retirement fund industry has experienced major regulatory changes. These changes were aimed at imposing a higher standard of governance on the boards of trustees governing various pension funds. As such, there has been a debate within the retirement fund industry as to whom the board, as the governing and managing body of the retirement fund, is accountable. South African courts and tribunals adjudicating pension fund related disputes and the retirement industry at large seem to share the view that the board of trustees is accountable to both the fund and its members. In that the board of trustees owes fiduciary duties to both the fund and its members, meaning that the board is required to act in the best interest of the fund and its members. However, in this paper I demonstrate that the boards of trustees of South African Pension Funds are accountable to and owe fiduciary duties only to the fund they serve and not members of those funds. Furthermore, I submit that at the very best the board owes a duty of good faith towards the members of the fund. In order to substantiate my submissions, I distinguish the legal position relating to trust law from the law relating to retirement funds in South Africa.
{"title":"Do Boards of Trustees of South African Retirement Funds Owe Fiduciary Duties to Both the Funds and Fund Members? - The Debate Continues","authors":"Motseotsile Clement Marumoagae","doi":"10.17159/1727-3781/2012/V15I2A2499","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2012/V15I2A2499","url":null,"abstract":"Over the years, the South African retirement fund industry has experienced major regulatory changes. These changes were aimed at imposing a higher standard of governance on the boards of trustees governing various pension funds. As such, there has been a debate within the retirement fund industry as to whom the board, as the governing and managing body of the retirement fund, is accountable. South African courts and tribunals adjudicating pension fund related disputes and the retirement industry at large seem to share the view that the board of trustees is accountable to both the fund and its members. In that the board of trustees owes fiduciary duties to both the fund and its members, meaning that the board is required to act in the best interest of the fund and its members. However, in this paper I demonstrate that the boards of trustees of South African Pension Funds are accountable to and owe fiduciary duties only to the fund they serve and not members of those funds. Furthermore, I submit that at the very best the board owes a duty of good faith towards the members of the fund. In order to substantiate my submissions, I distinguish the legal position relating to trust law from the law relating to retirement funds in South Africa.","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89641448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-08-12DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-44-453594-8.00004-5
Kevin J. Murphy
{"title":"Executive Compensation: Where We are, and How We Got There","authors":"Kevin J. Murphy","doi":"10.1016/B978-0-44-453594-8.00004-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-44-453594-8.00004-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"140 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76603398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is limited empirical evidence about the impact of for-profit health insurers on various outcomes. I study the effects of conversions to for-profit status by Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) affiliates in 11 states, spanning 28 geographic markets. I find both the BCBS affiliate and its rivals increased premiums following conversions in markets where the converting affiliate had substantial market share. Medicaid enrollment rates also increased in these markets, a pattern consistent with “crowd in” of families who were formerly privately insured. The results suggest for-profit insurers are likelier than not-for-profit insurers to exercise market power when they possess it. (JEL G22, I13, I18, I38)
{"title":"Does it Matter If Your Health Insurer is For-Profit? Effects of Ownership on Premiums, Insurance Coverage, and Medical Spending","authors":"Leemore S. Dafny, S. Ramanarayanan","doi":"10.1257/pol.20130370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20130370","url":null,"abstract":"There is limited empirical evidence about the impact of for-profit health insurers on various outcomes. I study the effects of conversions to for-profit status by Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) affiliates in 11 states, spanning 28 geographic markets. I find both the BCBS affiliate and its rivals increased premiums following conversions in markets where the converting affiliate had substantial market share. Medicaid enrollment rates also increased in these markets, a pattern consistent with “crowd in” of families who were formerly privately insured. The results suggest for-profit insurers are likelier than not-for-profit insurers to exercise market power when they possess it. (JEL G22, I13, I18, I38)","PeriodicalId":76903,"journal":{"name":"Employee benefits journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82997995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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