Political Embeddedness of Public Pension Governance: An Event History Analysis of Discount Rate Changes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Qiushi; Peng, Jun
• 署名单位: Sun Yat Sen University; Sun Yat Sen University; University of Arizona
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.12968
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 785-794
• 关键词: social-structure; state; performance; promises

摘要

State governments are frequently said to manipulate the discount rate assumption to make pension funding look better, reduce employers' and employees' pension contributions, or relieve fiscal stress. Building a model from the political embeddedness perspective and applying an event history analysis to the 81 largest state-administered pension plans in the United States, the authors found that more politically embedded pension boards were actually more likely to reduce their plan's discount rate. Public union coverage and government political ideology, however, had no significant impact on discount rate changes. These findings reveal the effect of political embeddedness on pension planning decisions and provide useful insights into the intricate process of setting pension discount rates in a new era of more muted investment return expectations. This article points to both political and financial pressures facing pension boards and state governments for many years to come.