Pension Governance In The Public Sector

Matthew Dobra

Hazel Hall, 440
November 18, 2004, 07:00 PM to 07:00 PM

Abstract:

While public attention in the United States in recent years has turned to the issue of government retirement programs, this attention has been primarily focused on America?s ailing Social Security system. Unfortunately, public pensions at the state and local level are often overlooked. This oversight is unfortunate for at least two reasons. The first is that these public pension systems hold a vast amount of assets, totaling over $2 trillion, and cover nearly 11% of the American workforce. Moreover, a careful analysis of these systems can potentially provide models for alternative ways to administer Social Security in the future. We provide extensive quantitative analysis of how pension plan governance and behavior affects performance.