Politics, Fiscal Necessity, or Both? Factors Driving the Enactment of Defined Contribution Accounts for Public Employees

Thom, Michael

doi:10.1111/puar.12042

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Reform could also be motivated by concern that poorly funded pensions will crowd out spending on other programs, or that pension costs have already begun to do so. Other fiscal considerations, such as the state’s overall level of indebtedness, may heighten attentiveness to certain reforms (Thom, 2013).…”

Section: What Drives Pension Reform Enactments?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Drivers of Public Sector Pension Reform Across the U.S. States

Thom

2015

The American Review of Public Administration

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This study analyzes the diffusion of public sector pension reforms across the American states between 1999 and 2012, a policy area notable for its fiscal implications as much as its recent political polarization. Previous enactment in other, non-contiguous states was the largest and most consistent driver of reform. Otherwise, empirical findings suggest that reform antecedents varied by reform type. Existing funding levels reduced the likelihood that states would cut benefits, change pension governance, or reduce cost of living allowances, but had no effect otherwise. Evidence for partisan legislative influence is weak, although Republican control had partial, positive effects on the enactment of pension governance reforms and increases to the retirement age. Across the board, other relevant factors such as constitutional pension protections, collective bargaining rights, and union membership density had no effect. That external contagion pressures have a more robust influence than endogenous conditions raises questions about the future efficacy of pension reform.

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Section: What Drives Pension Reform Enactments?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Drivers of Public Sector Pension Reform Across the U.S. States

Thom

2015

The American Review of Public Administration

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“…Private ownership of plan assets by individual employees prevents policy makers from using those assets to satisfy other fiscal policy objectives and may encourage better overall fiscal responsibility. Of course, defined contribution plans do not eliminate existing pension liabilities and bring a unique set of policy and administrative concerns (Chen et al 2013) and their enactment is highly dependent on partisanship (Thom 2013b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underfunding Annual Pension Contributions

Thom

Randazzo²

2015

State and Local Government Review

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Inadequate contributions are one factor behind the gap between pension assets and benefit liabilities. Each year, many states fail to meet their required pension contribution while others consistently meet or exceed their required amount. This study seeks to identify the factors that shape actual pension contributions across the states. Results suggest that states with smaller long-term funding gaps are more likely to fund required contributions. Legislative professionalism and constitutional collective bargaining privileges reduce annual funding. The effect of partisan and institutional traits was sensitive to methodology. Revenue changes and balanced budget requirements had no significant effect on pension contributions. These results suggest a number of reform avenues, including constitutional, institutional, and programmatic changes of varying political feasibility.

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“…Although several other methods are present to analyze career data (Vannoni & John, 2018), event history analysis is the most suitable to study the likelihood that the individual will transition to a career stage. This method has already been used both in public and private management (Choi, Feiock, & Bae, 2013; Iverson & Pullman, 2000; Su & Bozeman, 2009; Thom, 2013). For instance, Su and Bozeman (2009) study the likelihood of switching sectors using this approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Are the Revolving Doors in Brussels? Sector Switching and Career Progression in EU Business–Government Affairs

Coen

Vannoni

2019

The American Review of Public Administration

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By applying event history analysis to a unique large sample of more than 300 government affairs managers working for companies active in the European Union (EU), this article investigates whether managers with work experience in the public or nonprofit sector are more likely to progress in their career in their current company and whether career progression depends on when that experience takes place. The findings suggest that managers with experience in the public and nonprofit sector are less likely to progress in their careers. This effect becomes stronger when the stage of the career at which the manager had experience in the public sector is taken into consideration. These findings are contrary to the expectations from the public and private management literature and suggest that we should see less revolving door activity in Brussels. We propose that these findings are driven by the distinct EU public policy process and the variance in individual and organizational incentives in the EU public sector.

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Politics, Fiscal Necessity, or Both? Factors Driving the Enactment of Defined Contribution Accounts for Public Employees

Cited by 15 publications

References 68 publications

The Drivers of Public Sector Pension Reform Across the U.S. States

The Drivers of Public Sector Pension Reform Across the U.S. States

Underfunding Annual Pension Contributions

Where Are the Revolving Doors in Brussels? Sector Switching and Career Progression in EU Business–Government Affairs

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