Pension Funding in the Public Sector
利用州、地方和教师养老金计划的新数据，分析公共部门养老金资金状况的决定因素，发现过去做法会延续、工会化雇主更少足额缴费、资金状况对财政压力敏感。
This paper explores the determinants of pension funding in the public sector. We formulate and test several hypotheses about the determinants of public employer pension funding practices, using a new data set describing financial and other characteristics of state, local, and teacher plans. The data show that, on average, public sector pension plans were relatively well-funded during the late 1980s. There were, however, wide variations in funding practices in our sample. Our analysis of these variations suggests that past funding practice tends to be perpetuated, that unionized employers are less likely to fully fund future pension obligations, and that funding is sensitive to fiscal pressure.