Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:27:56.498Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Determinants of the generosity of pension plans for public school teachers, 1982–2006

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2010

ROBERT L. CLARK  and
LEE A. CRAIG
ROBERT L. CLARK
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics and Professor of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, North Carolina State University (e-mail: [email protected])
LEE A. CRAIG
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics, North Carolina State University (e-mail: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

All states provide pension plans to their teachers and civil servants; however, these plans vary across the states. We present a history of the development of teacher retirement plans during the twentieth century, describe how teacher plans relate to retirement plans for other state employees, and assess the impact of teachers not being included in Social Security on the benefits they receive from their employer pension plan. Over the past 25 years, public school teacher retirement plans in the United States have increased in generosity as benefit formulas have been increased, salary averaging periods have been reduced, and the normal retirement age has been lowered. We employ data from retirement plans in the states to estimate the impact of social and economic factors on the replacement rates for teachers retiring with 30 years of service.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 99 - 118
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Buchanan, J. M. and Tullock, G. (1962) The Calculus of Consent. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Clark, Robert (2009) Will public sector retiree health benefit plans survive? Economic and policy implcations of unfunded liabilities. Paper presented to the annual meetings of the American Economic Association, San Francisco.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, Robert, Craig, Lee, and Wilson, Jack (2003) A History of Public Sector Pensions in the United States. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Clark, Robert, Craig, Lee, and Ahmed, Naveen (2009) The evolution of public sector pension plans in the United States. In Gary, Anderson and Olivia, Mitchell, The Future of Public Retirement Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 239–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, Lee A. (1995) The political economy public–private compensation differential: the case of federal pensions. Journal of Economic History, 55 (June): 304–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishback, Price V. and Kantor, Shawn Everett (1995) Did workers pay for the passage of workers' compensation laws? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110 (August): 713–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishback, Price V. and Kantor, Shawn Everett (2000) A Prelude to the Welfare State: The Origins of Workers' Compensation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruber, Johnathan and Krueger, Alan B. (1991) The incidence of mandated employer-provided insurance: lessons from workers' compensation insurance. In David, Bradford (ed.), Tax Policy and the Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 111–143.Google Scholar
Hirsch, Barry T. and Macpherson, David A. (2007) Union membership, coverage, density, and employment by state and sector, 1983–2007. http://unionstats.gsu.edu/Google Scholar
Libecap, Gary (1989) Contracting for Property Rights. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Moore, Michael J. and Viscusi, W. Kip (1990) Compensation Mechanisms for Job Risk: Wages, Workers' Compensation, and Product Liability. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munnell, Alicia (2005) Mandatory social security coverage of state and local workers: a perennial hot button. Issue Brief No. 32. Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur (1965) The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Social Security Board (1937) Social security in America: Part II old age security. http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/ces/cesbookc8.htmlGoogle Scholar
Social Security Administration (2007) How state and local government employees are covered by social security and medicare. www.socialsecurity.govGoogle Scholar
Social Security Administration (2008) Historical background and development of social security. http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.htmlGoogle Scholar
Streckewald, Frederick (2005) Social security testimony before 109th Congress. http://www.ssa.gov/legislation/testimony_060905.htmlGoogle Scholar
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (1987) Census of Governments: Employee Retirement Systems of State and Local Governments. Vol. 4, Table 1. Washington, DC: USGPO.Google Scholar
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (2002) Census of Governments: Employee Retirement Systems of State and Local Governments. Vol. 4, Tables 3 and 4. Washington, DC: USGPO.Google Scholar
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (various years) Statistical Abstract of the United States. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/Google Scholar
US General Accounting Office (1999) State Pension Plans: Similarities and Differences Between Federal and State Designs. 19 March, GAO/GGD-99-45. Washington, DC: US GAO.Google Scholar
US General Accounting Office (2007) State and Local Government Retiree Benefits: Current Status of Benefit Structures, Protections, and Fiscal Outlook for Funding Future Costs. 24 September, GAO-07-572. Washington, DC: US GAO.Google Scholar
Wisconsin Legislative Council (various years) Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems. Published biannually from 1982 to 2006. Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar