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

Abstract

Because employer-sponsored group pension plans entail agreements between workers and their employers explicitly linking future payment and employment, they offer an unusual window into long-term employment relationships. 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 authors also outline some unanswered questions and difficult-to-reconcile findings.