The Role of Pensions in the Labor Market: A Survey of The Literature

This review of recent research on pensions explores how pensions influence employee compensation, retirement, turnover, and other matters central to the determination of labor's price and quantity over time. The paper discusses the various reasons why employers offer pension plans, the benefits they get out of them, and the reasons why employees want them. The HRS is mentioned as a footnote to the explanation of the two primary types of benefit plans- - defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB). HRS data indicates that among the 67 of workers who were covered by a pension, 43 were covered by a DB plan only, 29 by a DC plan only, and 26 had a combination of the two.