eCommons

DigitalCollections@ILR
ILR School
 

Retirement System Characteristics and Compensating Wage Differentials in the Public Sector

Other Titles

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that a trade-off exists between wages and certain characteristics of retirement systems in the public sector. Cross-section econometric estimates for uniformed municipal employees, based upon data from two national surveys of municipalities, suggest that, other things equal, an increase in the contribution made by uniformed employees to their retirement system leads to a compensating increase in their salaries, while retirement systems with more "generous" characteristics are associated to some extent with lower salaries. The estimates also indicate that the extent of retirement system underfunding is related to employers' and employees' perceptions of the probability that promised retirement benefits will not be fully paid and that these perceptions too are reflected in compensating wage differentials. The author concludes that pension reform legislation in the public sector will be likely to have an impact on public sector wages and, therefore, careful consideration should be given to the design of such legislation.

Journal / Series

Volume & Issue

Description

Sponsorship

Date Issued

1980-07-01

Publisher

Keywords

retirement; wages; compensation; municipal employees; public sector; public policy

Location

Effective Date

Expiration Date

Sector

Employer

Union

Union Local

NAICS

Number of Workers

Committee Chair

Committee Co-Chair

Committee Member

Degree Discipline

Degree Name

Degree Level

Related Version

Related DOI

Related To

Related Part

Based on Related Item

Has Other Format(s)

Part of Related Item

Related To

Related Publication(s)

Link(s) to Related Publication(s)

References

Link(s) to Reference(s)

Previously Published As

Government Document

ISBN

ISMN

ISSN

Other Identifiers

Rights

Required Publisher Statement: © Cornell University. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Rights URI

Types

article

Accessibility Feature

Accessibility Hazard

Accessibility Summary

Link(s) to Catalog Record