The Future of Public Employee Retirement Systems

People covered by public pensions are often the subject of 'pension envy:' that is, their benefits might seem more generous and their contributions lower than those offered by the private sector. Yet this book points out that such judgments are often inaccurate, since civil servants hold jobs with few counterparts in private industry, such as firefighters, police, judges, and teachers. Often these are riskier, dirtier, and demand more loyalty and discretion than would be required of a more mobile labor force in the private sector. The debate challenges traditional ideas about how the public employee labor contract is structured and raises questions about how such employees are attracted to the public sector, retained and motivated on the job, and retired, via an entire compensation package of wages and benefits. Authors explore aspects of these schemes, addressing the cost and valuation debate, along with the political economy of how public pension asset pools are perceived and managed, an increasingly important topic in times of global financial turmoil. The discussion also explores ways that public pensions can be strengthened in the US, Japan, Canada, and Germany. The volume captures a vigorous debate currently underway by academics, financial experts, regulators, and plan sponsors, all seeking to define a new future for public retirement systems. It will be of substantial interest to a wide range of readers, since public sector employees and their representatives will naturally find the comparisons and arguments over valuation of keen interest. Public pension administrators and policymakers seeking an explanation of what makes these plans so costly will gain a new understanding of how the arguments stack up. Private sector employers and plan sponsors can learn much from efforts to reform these retirement systems in states and countries around the world. Finally, investors and the taxpaying public more generally may be at risk to cover these long-term promises, so it behoves them to pay close attention to the financing and investment practices of these plans, along with their valuation. This volume represents an invaluable addition to the Pension Research Council / Oxford University Press series as it includes actuarial, economic, and financial perspectives making it useful for academics, retirement plan administrators, and public employees wishing to understand the challenges facing public pensions. Contributors to this volume - Neveen Ahmed, doctoral candidate in Economics, North Carolina State University, Beth Almeida, Executive Director, National Institute on Retirement Security, Gary Anderson, public pension consultant, Brad M. Barber, Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Management, UC Davis, Keith Brainard, research director, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, Robert L. Clark, Professor of Economics and Professor of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, North Carolina State University, Lee A. Craig, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics, North Carolina State University, Roderick B. Crane, Director of Institutional Client Services, TIAA-CREF, Jeremy Gold pension finance consultant, Michael Heller, Vice President of Actuarial Consulting Services, TIAA-CREF, Edwin C. Hustead, former Senior Vice President in charge of the Arlington, Virginia Hay Group actuarial practice and all Hay governmental actuarial and benefits consulting, Toni Hustead, former Chief of the Veterans Affairs and Defense Health Branch, US Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, Kelly Kenneally, communications advisor to the National Institute on Retirement Security, Gordon Latter, head of Pension and Endowment Strategy, Merrill Lynch Global Securities Research and Economics Group, David Madland, Director of the Work/Life Program, Center for American Progress, Raimond Maurer, endowed Chair of Investment, Portfolio Management, and Pension Finance, Finance Department, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Ken McDonnell, Program Director, American Savings Education Council, Washington, DC, Stephen T. McElhaney, senior public sector actuary, Mercer, Olivia S. Mitchell, Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania , Silvana Pozzebon, Associate Professor, Department of Human Resources Management, HEC Montreal (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Montreal), Ralph Rogalla, Research Associate, Department of Finance, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Junichi Sakamoto, Chief Adviser to the Pension Management Research Group, Nomura Research Institute, M. Barton Waring, Chief Investment Officer for Investment Strategy and Policy, Barclays Global Investors, Emeritus, Paul J. Yakoboski, Principal Research Fellow, TIAA-CREF Institute, Parry Young, independent consultant on pension and other postemployment benefit issues related to US state and local governments.