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Economic Consequences of Unfunded Vested Pension Benefits

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  • Mark Gersovitz

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between unfunded vested pension liabilities and the market value of a firm's shares. This relationship has important implications for the mechanism by which private pensions influence aggregate savings. Attention is paid to modeling the institutional determinants of this relation implied by ERISA legislation. These considerations require a nonlinear regression model with very special properties which are developed and discussed. Estimation results suggest that ERISA has had an important effect on the relation between unfunded benefits and firm value that previous investigations have neglected.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Gersovitz, 1980. "Economic Consequences of Unfunded Vested Pension Benefits," NBER Working Papers 0480, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0480
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    1. James Tobin, 1956. "Estimation of Relationships for Limited Dependent Variables," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 3R, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    2. Oldfield, George S, Jr, 1977. "Financial Aspects of the Private Pension System," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 9(1), pages 48-54, February.
    3. Feldstein, Martin, 1978. "Do private pensions increase national savings?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 277-293, December.
    4. Malkiel, Burton G & Cragg, John G, 1970. "Expectations and the Structure of Share Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 601-617, September.
    5. Arnott, Richard J. & Gersovitz, Mark, 1980. "Corporate financial structure and the funding of private pension plans," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 231-247, April.
    6. Fama, Eugene F., 1977. "Risk-adjusted discount rates and capital budgeting under uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 3-24, August.
    7. Sharpe, William F., 1976. "Corporate pension funding policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-193, June.
    8. Smith, Clifford Jr., 1976. "Option pricing : A review," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1-2), pages 3-51.
    9. Stephen Goldfeld & Richard Quandt, 1973. "The Estimation of Structural Shifts by Switching Regressions," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 2, number 4, pages 475-485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Horiba, Yutaka & Yoshida, Kazuo, 2002. "Determinants of Japanese corporate pension coverage," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 537-555.
    2. Jeremy I. Bulow & Randall Morck & Lawrence H. Summers, 1987. "How Does the Market Value Unfunded Pension Liabilities?," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in Pension Economics, pages 81-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Martin Feldstein & Randall Morck, 1983. "Pension Funding Decisions, Interest Rate Assumptions, and Share Prices," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, pages 177-210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Feldstein, Martin & Seligman, Stephanie, 1981. "Pension Funding, Share Prices, and National Savings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 36(4), pages 801-824, September.

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