New Findings from New School for Social Research in the Area of Pension Economics Reported

Investment Weekly News

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Investment Weekly News -- New research on Economics - Pension Economics is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from New York City, New York, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Using longitudinal Survey of Income and Program Participation data linked to Social Security Administration administrative records from 2009 and 2012, we find negative economic shocks cause 401(k) contribution behavior to react in ways consistent with reactions to fear and past trauma."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from New School for Social Research, "If employees participating in 401(k) plans did not experience real earnings declines or unemployment spells between 2009 and 2012, then their contribution rates would have been 5% higher and each person would have contributed US $193 more toward their defined contribution plan accounts. We conclude that previous studies may have swung too far in emphasizing inertia as a primary behavior trait explaining workers' 401(k) plan engagement."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Reactive behavior to protect living standards by reducing retirement savings is also important."

For more information on this research see: Earnings volatility and 401(k) contributions. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance, 2018;17(4):554-575. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance can be contacted at: Cambridge Univ Press, Edinburgh Bldg, Shaftesbury Rd, CB2 8RU Cambridge, England. (Cambridge University Press - www.cambridge.org; Journal of Pension Economics & Finance - journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PEF)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting T. Ghilarducci, New Sch Social Res, Dept. of Econ, New York, NY 10003, United States. Additional authors for this research include J. Saad-Lessler and G. Reznik.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474747217000178. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America, Pension Economics, Economics, New School for Social Research.