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Optimal Degree Of Funding Of Public Sector Pension Plans

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  • Meijdam, A.C.
  • Ponds, E.H.M.

    (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research)

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores the optimal degree of funding of public sector pension plans. It is assumed that a benevolent social planner decides on the contribution of current taxpayers to the funding of public sector pensions next period, weighing the interests of current and future tax payers. Two elements play a role in the optimal funding decision: the optimal-portfolio choice (i.e. the tradeoff between the expected excess return and the additional risk of funding vis-Ã -vis pay-as-you-go) and intergenerational redistribution (i.e. whether the current generation of tax payers is willing and capable to prefund the pension obligations of current public sector workers or shifts the burden to future generations via a pay-as-you-go scheme). The optimal degree of funding appears to vary over time, depending not only on the relative weight given to the current generation, risk aversion, and the distribution of financial risk and human capital risk, but also on the actual state of the economy, i.e. on wage income, funding in the past and the realization of the excess return on this funding.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research in its series Discussion Paper with number 2013-011.

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Date of creation: 2013
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2013011

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  1. Perotti, Enrico C & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2007. "The Political Origin of Pension Funding," CEPR Discussion Papers 6100, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Richard Disney & Carl Emmerson & Gemma Tetlow, 2009. "What is a Public Sector Pension Worth?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(541), pages F517-F535, November.
  3. Ponds, E.H.M. & Severinson, C. & Yermo, J., 2012. "Implicit debt in public sector plans: An international comparison," Open Access publications from Tilburg University urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-5452874, Tilburg University.
  4. Bohn, Henning, 2010. "Should Public Retirement Plans be Fully Funded?," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt1cw6c8qg, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
  5. Matsen, Egil & Thogersen, Oystein, 2004. "Designing social security - a portfolio choice approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 883-904, August.
  6. Munnell, Alicia H. & Aubry, Jean-Pierre & Quinby, Laura, 2011. "Public pension funding in practice," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(02), pages 247-268, April.
  7. Robert Novy-Marx & Joshua D. Rauh, 2009. "The Liabilities and Risks of State-Sponsored Pension Plans," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(4), pages 191-210, Fall.
  8. Dirk Krueger & Felix Kubler, 2003. "Pareto Improving Social Security Reform when Financial Markets are Incomplete?," NBER Working Papers 9410, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  9. Markus Knell, 2008. "The Optimal Mix Between Funded and Unfunded Pensions Systems When People Care About Relative Consumption," Working Papers 146, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
  10. Eduard Ponds & Clara Severinson & Juan Yermo, 2011. "Funding in Public Sector Pension Plans: International Evidence," OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions 8, OECD Publishing.
  11. Andreas Wagener, 2003. "Pensions as a portfolio problem: fixed contribution rates vs. fixed replacement rates reconsidered," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 111-134, 02.
  12. Schieber, Sylvester J., 2011. "Political economy of public sector retirement plans," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(02), pages 269-290, April.
  13. Jeffrey R. Brown & David W. Wilcox, 2009. "Discounting State and Local Pension Liabilities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 538-42, May.
  14. Palacios, Robert & Whitehouse, Edward, 2006. "Civil-service pension schemes around the world," MPRA Paper 14796, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  15. Dutta, Jayasri & Kapur, Sandeep & Orszag, J. Michael, 2000. "A portfolio approach to the optimal funding of pensions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 201-206, November.
  16. Øystein Thøgersen & Kine Bøhlerengen, 2010. "Alternative Risk-Sharing Mechanisms of Social Security," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 66(2), pages 134-152, June.
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