Economics Commons^™

The Political Economy Of Inequality: U.S. And Global Dimensions, Sisay Asefa Editor, Wei-Chiao Huang Editor

Upjohn Press

The contributors to this book discuss a variety of forms of social inequality which include large gaps in accumulated assets, discrepancies in access to quality education, unstable family life, lack of access to banking services, poor employment prospects, lack of health care services, and underrepresentation for political and legal matters. Together, they show how these forms of inequality are interrelated with income inequality and that, taken together, they pose the risk for societal and political unrest should they be left unresolved.

Extending Work Life: Can Employers Adapt When Employees Want To Delay Retirement?, Robert L. Clark, Melinda Sandler Morrill

Upjohn Press

Aging men and women are increasingly remaining in the labor force. Most often the reason for this is that they need to work additional years in order to be able to support an increasing number of years in retirement. This leaves employers scrambling for ways to adapt to a growing number of retirement-aged workers. Clark and Morrill provide a thorough assessment of the costs and benefits of accommodating later retirement ages, and they describe options employers may use to create some new form of employment contract with aging workers.

The most prominent issues employers with aging workers face are declining …

Sustaining Social Security In An Era Of Population Aging, John A. Turner

Upjohn Press

John A. Turner offers a set of reforms for restoring solvency to Social Security that are deemed to have merit in the current political climate. These reforms relate to several vexing issues including increased life expectancy, the growing relationship between income and life expectancy, the declines in the physical demands of jobs, growing income inequality, and the pattern of poverty increasing at older ages.

Privatizing Railroad Retirement, Steven A. Sass

Upjohn Press

Sass discusses the evolution of the U.S. Railroad Retirement System and whether its ability to invest its assets in private equities offers any lessons for Social Security.

Social Security And Pension Reform: International Perspectives, Marek Szczepański Editor, John A. Turner Editor

Upjohn Press

Countries around the world are reforming their social security and pension systems. International studies often focus on social security reforms in Europe and North America, and may include Latin America. Reforms, however, are also occurring in Asia and Africa, and include reforms of voluntary and employer-provided pensions as well as social security programs. This book discusses both social security and employer-provided pension reforms, as well as reforms in most regions of the world.

Longevity Policy: Facing Up To Longevity Issues Affecting Social Security, Pensions, And Older Workers, John A. Turner

Upjohn Press

Turner argues that public policy should recognize longevity policy as a distinct policy area. Rather than separately treating issues raised by life expectancy (e.g., Social Security, pensions, older workers), a unified approach should be developed that recognizes their interrelationship.

Imagining The Ideal Pension System: International Perspectives, Dana M. Muir Editor, John A. Turner Editor

Upjohn Press

Muir and Turner gather an international roster of pension experts who present what they think would be the ideal pension systems for their countries and why. Those countries include the United States, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Poland, and Japan.

The Transformation Of The American Pension System: Was It Beneficial For Workers?, Edward N. Wolff

Upjohn Press

The share of Americans with defined contribution pension plans now exceeds the share of those with defined benefit plans. Wolff refers to this as the "great transformation" and it leads him to examine recent evidence to see whether there are winners and losers resulting from this switch away from traditional pension plans.

Pension Policy: The Search For Better Solutions, John A. Turner

Upjohn Press

Turner identifies the current problems facing pension policy for U.S. employer-provided pension plans and recommends solutions to those problems based on his examination of pension systems in other industrialized nations.

Sustainable Prosperity In The New Economy?: Business Organization And High-Tech Employment In The United States, William Lazonick

Upjohn Press

Lazonick explores the origins of the new era of employment insecurity and income inequality, and considers what governments, businesses, and individuals can do about it. He also asks whether the United States can refashion its high-tech business model to generate stable and equitable economic growth.

Older And Out Of Work: Jobs And Social Insurance For A Changing Economy, Randall W. Eberts Editor, Richard A. Hobbie Editor

Upjohn Press

The chapters in this volume, originally presented at a conference organized by the National Academy of Social Insurance, come from a group of policy experts who advance our understanding of the labor market experiences of older workers while pointing out that current workforce programs often leave this growing population underserved.

Social Security And The Stock Market: How The Pursuit Of Market Magic Shapes The System, Alicia Haydock Munnell, Steven A. Sass

Upjohn Press

Munnell and Sass explore whether equities could help solve the woes facing the U.S. retirement income system in general, and the Social Security shortfall in particular. They examine the experiences of three nations that added equities to the investment mix of their retirement systems—the U.K., Australia, and Canada. As these experiences show, while equities promise higher returns than government bonds, how they are implemented—as add-ons, carve-outs, or as trust fund supplements—matters greatly.

Individual Accounts For Social Security Reform: International Perspectives On The U.S. Debate, John A. Turner

Upjohn Press

John Turner uses the documented experiences of many countries—including the U.K., Sweden, Chile, Australia, Canada, and others—and the tools of economics to analyze the public policy issues surrounding the proposed implementation of individual accounts as part of the U.S. Social Security system. The result is a book that clarifies these issues while offering direction to Social Security policymakers. Also included is a comprehensive overview of the types of defined contribution plans in use today.

Pay At Risk: Compensation And Employment Risk In The United States And Canada, John A. Turner Editor

Upjohn Press

The contributors to this book investigate the compensation and employment risks for U.S. and Canadian workers. They examine both wage and nonwage aspects of compensation, and whether workers in the U.S. or Canada face more job-related risks. They also seek to identify trends in risk bearing and whether they differ by country.

Ensuring Health And Income Security For An Aging Workforce, Peter Budetti Editor, Richard V. Burkhauser Editor, Janice M. Gregory Editor, H. Allan Hunt Editor

Upjohn Press

The chapters explore implications of an aging workforce for a number of social programs in the coming decades, and point to the critical policy issues we must face when growing numbers of older workers begin to strain the capacity of those programs.

Employee Benefits And Labor Markets In Canada And The United States, William T. Alpert Editor, Stephen A. Woodbury Editor

Upjohn Press

Alpert and Woodbury present a comprehensive set of explorations into the impacts that the provision of various types of employee benefits (or lack thereof) have on labor markets. And while there are, as the editors point out, substantial differences between the employee benefits systems of Canada and the U.S., these differences showcase the impacts of specific policies related to employee benefits on labor markets.

Pensions And Productivity, Stuart Dorsey, Christopher Mark Cornwell, David A. Macpherson

Upjohn Press

Employers typically view their investment in pension plans as a means of providing retirement income for their workers. Economists, on the other hand, view pension programs as a way to increase workplace productivity. Dorsey, Cornwell and Macpherson explore the theoretical and empirical basis for this perspective and, in the process, offer a complete and up-to-date discussion on the productivity theory of pensions.

Private Pension Policies In Industrialized Countries: A Comparative Analysis, John A. Turner, Noriyasu Watanabe

Upjohn Press

In this comprehensive review of private pension systems in effect world-wide, Turner and Watanabe discuss the fundamental issues facing nations as they adopt and expand private pension systems. Specific policies in effect in several private pension systems are analyzed including those in nations dominating world pension assets (Japan, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.), as is the country whose system is widely regarded as the model for developing nations, Chile. Turner and Watanabe also provide a compendium on the worldwide trends influencing pension systems and their implications for pension policy.

Pension Incentives And Job Mobility, Alan L. Gustman, Thomas L. Steinmeier

Upjohn Press

Using models developed for this study which incorporate an array of behaviors generally omitted from conventional models relating backloading to turnover, Gustman and Steinmeier find that backloading plays only a slight role in explaining mobility differences associated with pension coverage. They propose that higher wages often paid at pension-covered jobs play a greater role in reducing mobility than do pensions.

Pension Policy For A Mobile Labor Force, John A. Turner, Tabitha A. Doescher, Phyllis A. Fernandez

Upjohn Press

Employers often create a conflict between job mobility and retirement security when they deny future pension benefits to workers who quit a job before reaching retirement age. Unfortunately, this deterrent to job-changing inhibits the labor market's ability to adjust. It also means workers may be unprepared financially upon retirement. Turner describes why pension losses are such a significant problem and presents empirical evidence as to the number of workers affected and the amount of losses they incur. He also probes pension portability policy options and looks at portability options in effect in Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Passing The Torch: The Influence Of Economic Incentives On Work And Retirement, Joseph F. Quinn, Richard V. Burkhauser, Daniel A. Myers

Upjohn Press

This book summarizes research on individual retirement decisions and aggregate retirement trends. It also serves as an excellent reference source on the economics of retirement.

The Wage Carrot And The Pension Stick: Retirement Benefits And Labor Force Participation, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, David A. Wise

Upjohn Press

Kotlikoff and Wise document the continued backloading of pension benefits and the extent of retirement incentives by examining pension accrual in over 1,500 companies with defined benefit plans. They also perform a detailed analysis on the retirement plan of a "Fortune 500" company.

The Economics Of Aging, Myron H. Ross, Editor

Upjohn Press

Retirement-related issues are discussed including social security, healthcare, and inflation.

Policy Issues In Work And Retirement, Herbert S. Parnes Editor

Upjohn Press

This is a collection of papers that focuses on the human resource implications of individual and population aging.

Leaving Early: Perspectives And Problems In Current Retirement Practice And Policy, Jeanne P. Gordus

Upjohn Press

Examines the key issues surrounding the trend in early retirement.