Evaluating pension portability reforms. the tax reform act of 1986 as a natural experiment

This paper uses the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) as a natural experiment to evaluate the job mobility response of prime aged US employees participating into employer sponsored defined benefit (DB) pension plans to a reduction in the vesting period for pension rights accrual. The repeated panel data design of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) allows us to implement a "difference-in-difference" identification strategy using data from pre and post-reform periods. The effect of the policy change is identified as the difference between the change in predicted voluntary job mobility of the treated group and the change in predicted voluntary job mobility of the control group, over the period under study. We find that the reform had no significant effects on voluntary job mobility of the treated group. Our findings are robust to the use of different control groups and different pre/post reform samples

Pension Portability and Labour Mobility in the United States. New Evidence from SIPP Data

We explore the role of employer provided pensions on job mobility choices using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Defined benefit plans are found to have a significant negative effect on mobility. However, we find no significant evidence that the potential pension portability losses deter job mobility among workers covered by these plans. We also find that the portability policy change implemented by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 had only minor effects on mobility. Puzzlingly, defined contribution plans, although fully portable, are found to have an impact similar to defined benefit plans. Evidence of compensation premiums accruing to workers in pension, union and health insurance covered jobs supports the view that workers are less likely to leave 'good jobs'.Labour mobility ; Pension portability ; Switching regression models

Pension Portability and Labour Mobility in the United States. New Evidence from SIPP Data.

We explore the role of employer provided pensions on job mobility choices using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Defined benefit plans are found to have a significant negative effect on mobility. However, we find no significant evidence that the potential pension portability losses deter job mobility among workers covered by these plans. We also find that the portability policy change implemented by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 had only minor effects on mobility. Puzzlingly, defined contribution plans, although fully portable, are found to have an impact similar to defined benefit plans. Evidence of compensation premiums accruing to workers in pension, union and health insurance covered jobs supports the view that workers are less likely to leave "good jobs".labour mobility, pension portability, switching regression models

Evaluating pension portability reforms. the tax reform act of 1986 as a natural experiment.

This paper uses the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) as a natural experiment to evaluate the job mobility response of prime aged US employees participating into employer sponsored defined benefit (DB) pension plans to a reduction in the vesting period for pension rights accrual. The repeated panel data design of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) allows us to implement a "difference-in-difference" identification strategy using data from pre and post-reform periods. The effect of the policy change is identified as the difference between the change in predicted voluntary job mobility of the treated group and the change in predicted voluntary job mobility of the control group, over the period under study. We find that the reform had no significant effects on voluntary job mobility of the treated group. Our findings are robust to the use of different control groups and different pre/post reform samples.

EVALUATING PENSION PORTABILITY REFORMS. THE TAX REFORM ACT OF 1986 AS A NATURAL EXPERIMENT

This paper uses the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) as a natural experiment to evaluate the job mobility response of prime aged US employees participating into employer sponsored defined benefit (DB) pension plans to a reduction in the vesting period for pension rights accrual. The repeated panel data design of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) allows us to implement a "difference-in-difference" identification strategy using data from pre and post-reform periods. The effect of the policy change is identified as the difference between the change in predicted voluntary job mobility of the treated group and the change in predicted voluntary job mobility of the control group, over the period under study. We find that the reform had no significant effects on voluntary job mobility of the treated group. Our findings are robust to the use of different control groups and different pre/post reform samples.

Evaluating Pension Portability Reforms: The Tax Reform Act of 1986 as a Natural Experiment

This paper uses the Tax Reform Act of 1986 as a natural experiment to evaluate the job mobility response of prime-aged US employees participating in employer sponsored defined benefit pension plans to a reduction in the vesting period for pension rights accrual. We apply difference-in-differences methods using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate the treatment impact of this policy change. We find that on average the reform had no significant effects on voluntary job mobility of the treated group. Our findings are robust to the use of different control groups and difference-in-differences estimators.Labour mobility, employer-provided pension plans, vesting, program evaluation, propensity score matching

Income inequality and self-rated health status: Evidence from the European Community Household Panel

We examine the effect of income inequality on individual self-rated health status in a pooled sample of 10 member states of the European Union using longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) survey. Taking advantage of the longitudinal and cross-national nature of our data, and carefully modelling the self-reported health information, we avoid several of the pitfalls suffered by earlier studies on this topic. We calculate income inequality indices measured at two standard levels of geography (NUTS-0 and NUTS-1) and find consistent evidence that income inequality is negatively related to self-rated health status in the European Union for both men and women. However, despite its statistical significance, the magnitude of the impact of inequality on health is small.Self-rated health ; Income inequality ; European Union ; Panel data

Body size and wages in Europe: A semi-parametric analysis

Evidence of the association between wages and body size ?typically measured by the body mass index? appears to be sensitive to estimation methods and samples, and varies across gender and ethnic groups. One factor that may contribute to this sensitivity is the non-linearity of the relationship. This paper analyzes data from the European Community Household Panel survey and uses semi-parametric techniques to avoid functional form assumptions and assess the relevance of standard models. If a linear model for women and a quadratic model for men fit the data relatively well, they are not entirely satisfactory and are statistically rejected in favour of semiparametric models which identify patterns that none of the parametric specifications capture. Furthermore, when we use height and weight in the models directly, rather than equating body size with the body mass index, the semi-parametric models reveal a more complex picture with height having additional effects on wages. We interpret our results as consistent with the existence of a wage premium for physical attractiveness rather than a penalty for unhealthy weight.Body Mass Index; Obesity; Wages; Partial linear models; ECHP

Income Inequality and Self-Rated Health Status: Evidence from the European Community Household Panel

We examine the effect of income inequality on individual self-rated health status in a pooled sample of 10 member states of the European Union using longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) survey. Taking advantage of the longitudinal and cross-national nature of our data, and carefully modelling the self-reported health information, we avoid several of the pitfalls suffered by earlier studies on this topic. We calculate income inequality indices measured at two standard levels of geography (NUTS-0 and NUTS-1) and find consistent evidence that income inequality is negatively related to self-rate health status in the European Union for both men and women. However, despite its statistical significance, the magnitude of the impact on inequality on health is small.self-rated health; income inequality; European Union; panel data