IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v173y2020icp365-385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Worker retirement responses to pension incentives: Do they respond to pension wealth?

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Dongwoo

Abstract

Pension enhancements generate pension wealth spikes at the eligibility milestones. I analyze two major enhancements that generated different gains in pension wealth for eligible workers. The responsiveness of retirement behavior to these enhancements depends on how well workers understand their pension incentives. To test the retirement response to pension wealth, I use administrative data from Missouri teachers and leverage variation in enhancement impacts on teacher pension wealth owing to differences in teachers’ entering ages. I find that retirements respond strongly to pension enhancements, but the strength of the response does not align with their pecuniary value. My findings contribute to a growing body of research showing that workers have imperfect knowledge of their pension benefits and they use imprecise information to make retirement timing decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Dongwoo, 2020. "Worker retirement responses to pension incentives: Do they respond to pension wealth?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 365-385.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:173:y:2020:i:c:p:365-385
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.10.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268119303191
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.10.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert L. Clark & Melinda Sandler Morrill & Steven G. Allen, 2012. "The Role Of Financial Literacy In Determining Retirement Plans," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 50(4), pages 851-866, October.
    2. Cory Koedel & Michael Podgursky & Shishan Shi, 2013. "Teacher Pension Systems, the Composition of the Teaching Workforce, and Teacher Quality," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 574-596, June.
    3. Mastrobuoni, Giovanni, 2011. "The role of information for retirement behavior: Evidence based on the stepwise introduction of the Social Security Statement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 913-925.
    4. Day Manoli & Andrea Weber, 2016. "Nonparametric Evidence on the Effects of Financial Incentives on Retirement Decisions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 160-182, November.
    5. Sewin Chan & Ann Huff Stevens, 2008. "What You Don't Know Can't Help You: Pension Knowledge and Retirement Decision-Making," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 253-266, May.
    6. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Søren Leth-Petersen & Torben Heien Nielsen & Tore Olsen, 2014. "Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings Accounts: Evidence from Denmark," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1141-1219.
    7. Brown, Kristine M., 2013. "The link between pensions and retirement timing: Lessons from California teachers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Robert Novy‐Marx & Joshua Rauh, 2011. "Public Pension Promises: How Big Are They and What Are They Worth?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(4), pages 1211-1249, August.
    9. Brigitte C. Madrian, 2014. "Applying Insights from Behavioral Economics to Policy Design," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 663-688, August.
    10. Joshua Furgeson & Robert P. Strauss & William B. Vogt, 2006. "The Effects of Defined Benefit Pension Incentives and Working Conditions on Teacher Retirement Decisions," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 1(3), pages 316-348, June.
    11. Raj Chetty, 2015. "Behavioral Economics and Public Policy: A Pragmatic Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 1-33, May.
    12. Richard H. Thaler & Shlomo Benartzi, 2001. "Naive Diversification Strategies in Defined Contribution Saving Plans," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 79-98, March.
    13. Robin L. Lumsdaine & James H. Stock & David A. Wise, 1996. "Why Are Retirement Rates So High at Age 65?," NBER Chapters, in: Advances in the Economics of Aging, pages 61-82, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Cory Koedel & Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky, 2014. "Who Benefits from Pension Enhancements?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(2), pages 165-192, March.
    15. Bateman, Hazel & Dobrescu, Loretti I. & Newell, Ben R. & Ortmann, Andreas & Thorp, Susan, 2016. "As easy as pie: How retirement savers use prescribed investment disclosures," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 60-76.
    16. Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky, 2016. "How Teachers Respond to Pension System Incentives: New Estimates and Policy Applications," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 1075-1104.
    17. Fitzpatrick, Maria D., 2014. "Retiree health insurance for public school employees: Does it affect retirement?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 88-98.
    18. Courtney Coile & Jonathan Gruber, 2007. "Future Social Security Entitlements and the Retirement Decision," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(2), pages 234-246, May.
    19. David A. Wise, 1996. "Advances in the Economics of Aging," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise96-1.
    20. Daniel Kahneman, 2003. "Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1449-1475, December.
    21. Gallo, Giovanni & Torricelli, Costanza & van Soest, Arthur, 2018. "Individual heterogeneity and pension choices: Evidence from Italy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 260-281.
    22. Ann Huff Stevens & Sewin Chan, 1999. "Employment and Retirement Following a Late-Career Job Loss," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 211-216, May.
    23. Robert Novy-Marx & Joshua Rauh, 2014. "The Revenue Demands of Public Employee Pension Promises," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 193-229, February.
    24. repec:oup:jeurec:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:429-462. is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Chalmers, John & Johnson, Woodrow T. & Reuter, Jonathan, 2014. "The effect of pension design on employer costs and employee retirement choices: Evidence from Oregon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 17-34.
    26. Maria D. Fitzpatrick & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2014. "Early Retirement Incentives and Student Achievement," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 120-154, August.
    27. Jeffrey B. Liebman & Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2015. "Would People Behave Differently If They Better Understood Social Security? Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 275-299, February.
    28. Robert M. Costrell & Michael Podgursky, 2009. "Peaks, Cliffs, and Valleys: The Peculiar Incentives in Teacher Retirement Systems and Their Consequences for School Staffing," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 4(2), pages 175-211, April.
    29. Harris, Douglas N. & Adams, Scott J., 2007. "Understanding the level and causes of teacher turnover: A comparison with other professions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 325-337, June.
    30. Shlomo Benartzi & Richard Thaler, 2007. "Heuristics and Biases in Retirement Savings Behavior," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 81-104, Summer.
    31. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2000. "Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 773-806, April.
    32. Kristine M. Brown & Ron A. Laschever, 2012. "When They're Sixty-Four: Peer Effects and the Timing of Retirement," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 90-115, July.
    33. Cory Koedel & P. Brett Xiang, 2017. "Pension Enhancements and the Retention of Public Employees," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(2), pages 519-551, March.
    34. Stock, James H & Wise, David A, 1990. "Pensions, the Option Value of Work, and Retirement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(5), pages 1151-1180, September.
    35. Richard H. Thaler, 2016. "Behavioral Economics: Past, Present, and Future," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1577-1600, July.
    36. Robert M. Costrell & Josh B. McGee, 2010. "Teacher Pension Incentives, Retirement Behavior, and Potential for Reform in Arkansas," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 5(4), pages 492-518, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fuchsman, Dillon & McGee, Josh B. & Zamarro, Gema, 2023. "Teachers’ willingness to pay for retirement benefits: A national stated preferences experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Fuchsman, Dillon & McGee, Josh & Zamarro, Gema, 2022. "Teachers’ Knowledge and Preparedness for Retirement: Results from a Nationally Representative Teacher Survey," Working Papers 21-5, Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research, Saint Louis University.
    3. Robert M. Costrell & Josh McGee, 2019. "Cross-Subsidization of Teacher Pension Costs: The Case of California," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(2), pages 327-354, Spring.
    4. Zhu, Rong, 2021. "Retirement and voluntary work provision: Evidence from the Australian Age Pension reform," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 674-690.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Westall, John, 2019. "Social security and retirement timing: evidence from a national sample of teachers," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 549-564, October.
    2. Dongwoo Kim & Cory Koedel & Wei Kong & Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky & Weiwei Wu, 2021. "Pensions and Late-Career Teacher Retention," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 42-65, Winter.
    3. Ni, Shawn & Podgursky, Michael & Wang, Xiqian, 2022. "Teacher pension enhancements and staffing in an urban school district," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 613-633, October.
    4. Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky & Xiqian Wang, 2022. "Teacher Pension Plan Incentives, Retirement Decisions, and Workforce Quality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(1), pages 272-303.
    5. Laura D. Quinby, 2020. "Do Deferred Retirement Benefits Retain Government Employees?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 469-509, March.
    6. Quinby, Laura D. & Wettstein, Gal, 2021. "Do deferred benefit cuts for current employees increase separation?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    7. Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky, 2016. "How Teachers Respond to Pension System Incentives: New Estimates and Policy Applications," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 1075-1104.
    8. Cory Koedel & P. Brett Xiang, 2017. "Pension Enhancements and the Retention of Public Employees," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(2), pages 519-551, March.
    9. Brown, Kristine M., 2013. "The link between pensions and retirement timing: Lessons from California teachers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-14.
    10. Ben Backes & Ben Backes & Dan Goldhaberb & Cyrus Grout & Cory Koedel & Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky & P. Brett Xiang & Zeyu Xu, 2015. "Benefit or Burden? On the Intergenerational Inequity of Teacher Pension Plans," Working Papers 1517, Department of Economics, University of Missouri, revised Apr 2016.
    11. Luc Behaghel & David M. Blau, 2012. "Framing Social Security Reform: Behavioral Responses to Changes in the Full Retirement Age," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 41-67, November.
    12. Cerruti, Davide & Daminato, Claudio & Filippini, Massimo, 2023. "The impact of policy awareness: Evidence from vehicle choices response to fiscal incentives," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    13. Denis Fougère & Pierre Gouëdard, 2021. "The effects of financial incentives and disincentives on teachers' retirement decisions: Evidence from the 2003 French pension reform," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03465859, HAL.
    14. Maria D. Fitzpatrick & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2014. "Early Retirement Incentives and Student Achievement," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 120-154, August.
    15. Cory Koedel & Shawn Ni & Michael Podgursky, 2014. "Who Benefits from Pension Enhancements?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(2), pages 165-192, March.
    16. Staubli, Stefan & Lalive, Rafael & Magesan, Arvind, 2020. "The Impact of Social Security on Pension Claiming and Retirement: Active vs. Passive Decisions," CEPR Discussion Papers 15120, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Johannes Hagen & Daniel Hallberg & Gabriella Sjögren, 2022. "A Nudge to Quit? The Effect of a Change in Pension Information on Annuitisation, Labour Supply and Retirement Choices Among Older Workers," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1060-1094.
    18. Jonathan Cribb & Carl Emmerson, 2016. "What happens when employers are obliged to nudge? Automatic enrolment and pension saving in the UK," IFS Working Papers W16/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    19. Mastrobuoni, Giovanni, 2011. "The role of information for retirement behavior: Evidence based on the stepwise introduction of the Social Security Statement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 913-925, August.
    20. Dan Goldhaber & Cyrus Grout & Kristian L. Holden & Josh B. McGee, 2024. "Evidence on the Relationship between Pension-Driven Financial Incentives and Late-Career Attrition: Implications for Pension Reform," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 77(2), pages 175-198, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement behavior; Behavioral finance; Pension;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:173:y:2020:i:c:p:365-385. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.