This paper estimates a structural model of family retirement using U.S. data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women. Estimates using the HRS benefit from having, for each spouse, earnings histories provided by the respondent and the...

Pension plan descriptions from respondents to the 1992 Health and Retirement Study are compared with descriptions obtained from their employers. Earnings histories reported by respondents are compared with earnings histories from the Social Security Administration. The probability of linking...

This study analyzes changes in the value of defined benefit (DB) pension plans over time. It uses summary plan descriptions provided by the employers of respondents to the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) in 1983 and in 1989, applying them to similar earnings histories. Pension changes between...

Together, pensions, social security and health insurance account for half of the wealth held by all households in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), for 60 percent of total wealth of HRS households who are in the 45th to 55th wealth percentiles, and even for 48 percent of wealth for those in...

Employer-sponsored group pension plans offer an unusual window into long-term employment relationships. This is because the pension promise is documented in a set of explicit statements regarding future payment and employment agreements between workers and their employers. In this paper, we show...

This paper studies cost of living adjustments in pensions from the perspective of labor economics. Evidence from longitudinal data on pension and annuity incomes of retirees suggests that pension COLAs are less important in the 1980s than in the 1970s, but that through 1987 they continued to...

This paper questions recent conclusions that the trend towards defined contribution plans and away from defined benefit plans is due to increased pension regulation and/or a changing economic environment. Using data from IRS 5500 filings by pension administrators, we find that at least half of...

This paper investigates empirical issues related to pensions. It uses the 1983 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), a data set with detailed information both on workers and on their pensions. The paper presents new estimates of pension values for various groups. It compares pension values based on...

This paper finds that compensation premia and not pension backloading are responsible for the low mobility rates from jobs with pensions. Compensation premia, which may represent efficiency wages, are calculated as the difference in compensation between the current job and the best alternative...

This paper questions recent conclusions that the trend towards defined contribution plans and away from defined benefit plans is due to increased pension regulation and/or a changing economic environment. Using data from IRS 5500 filings by pension administrators, we find that at least half of...