Defined contribution pension plans: Determinants of participation and contributions rates

Journal of Financial Services Research

Volumn 31, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 1-32

  Huberman, Gur ^a   Iyengar, Sheena S ^a   Jiang, Wei ^a  

^a The Sanford C Bernstein Co Center for Leadership and Ethics   (United States)

Author keywords

401(k) plans; Defined contribution

Indexed keywords

EID: 34247595938     PISSN: 09208550     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10693-007-0003-6     Document Type: Article

References (52)

1. Agnew J, Balduzzi P, Sunden A (2003) Portfolio choice and trading in a large 401 (k) plan. Am Econ Rev 93 (1):193-215 (March)
2. Ameriks J, Zeldes SP (2004) How do household portfolio shares vary with age? Working Paper, Columbia University
3. Bajtelsmit, VL, Bernasek, A (1999) Why do women invest differently than men? Finano Couns Plan 7:294-305
4. Barber B, Odean T (2001) Boys will be boys: gender, overconfidenee, and common stock investments. Q J Boon 116(1):261-292 (February)
5. Benartzi S (2001) Excessive extrapolation and the allocation of 401 (k) accounts to company stock? Journal of Finance 56(5):1747-1764
6. Bernartzi S, Thaler R (2004). Save more tomorrow: using behavioral economics to increase employee saving. J Polit Econ 112(1):S164-S187 (February)
7. Chamberlain G. Heterogeneity, omitted variables biases, and duration dependence. In: Heckman JJ, Singer B (eds) Longitudinal analysis of labor market data. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 3-38
8. Choi J, Laibson D, Madrian B, Metrick A (2002) Defined contribution pensions: plan rules, participation decisions, and the path of lease resistance. In Poterba J (ed) Tax policy and the economy. MIT, pp 67-113
9. Choi J, Laibson D, Madrian B, Metrick A (2004a) For better and for worse: default effects and 401(k) savings behavior. Perspectives on the Economics of Aging, University of Chicago Press
10. Choi J, Laibson D, Madrian B, Metrick A (2004b) Employees' investment decisions about company stock. In: Mitchell OS, Utkus SP (eds) Pension design and decision-making under uncertainty. Oxford University Press
11. Choi J, Laibson D, Madrian B (2004c) Plan design and 401 (k) savings outcomes. Natl Tax J 57:275-298, June
12. Choi J, Laibson D, Madrian B (2005) $ 100 bills on the sidewalk: suboptimal saving in 401(k) Plans, working paper, Yale School of Management
13. Clark RL, Schieber SJ (1998) Factors affecting participation rates and contribution levels in 401 (k) plans. In: Mitchell O, Schieber S (ed) Living with defined contribution pensions: remaking responsibility for retirement. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pp 69-97
14. Cunningham CR, Engelhardt GV (2002) Federal tax policy, employer matching, and 401(k) saving: evidence from MRS W-2 records. Natl Tax J 55:617-645(September)
15. Duflo E, Saez E (2003) The role of information and social interactions in retirement plan decisions: evidence from a randomized experiment. Q J Econ 118:815-842
16. Duflo E, Gale W, Liebman J, Orszag P, Saez E (2006) Saving incentives for low- and middle-income families: evidence from a field experiment with H&R block. Q J Econ 121(4):1311-1346
17. Dynan KE, Skinner J, Zeldes SP (2004) Do the rich save more? J Polit Econ 112(2):397-444 (April)
18. Engelhardt G, Kumar A (2003) Employer matching and 401(k) saving: evidence from the health and retirement study, working paper, Syracuse University
19. Engen EM, Gale, WG (2000) The Effect of 401 (k) Plans on Household Wealth: Differences Across Earnings Groups, NBER Working Paper 8032, December
20. Engen E, Gale W, Scholz JK. (1996) The illusory effects of savings incentives on saving. J Econ Perspect 10 (4):113-138 (Autumn)
21. Even WE, Macpherson D (2003) Employee participation in 401(K) plans, Working paper, Miami University and Florida State University
22. Freedman DA (2001) Ecological inference and the ecological fallacy. International Encyclopedia for the Social and Behavioral Sciences 6:4027-4030
23. Friedman M (1957) A theory of the consumption function. Princeton University Press, Princeton
24. Garrett TA (2003) Aggregated vs. disaggregated data in regression analysis: implications for inference. Econ Lett 81(1):61-65 (October)
25. Holden S, VanDerhei J (2001) Contribution behavior of 401(k) plan participants. Investment Company Institute Perspeclive7(4) (October)
26. Holden S, VanDerhei J (2003) 401(k) plan asset allocation, account balances, and loan activity in 2001. Investment Company Institute Perspective 9(2) (March)
27. Honore B, Kyriazido E, Udry C (1997) Estimation of type 3 Tobit models using symmetric trimming and pairwise comparisons. J Econom 76:107-128
28. Huberman G (2001) Familiarity breeds investment. Rev Financ Stud 14(3):161-178, Fall
29. Huberman G, Jiang, W (2006) Offering vs. choices in 401 (k) plans: equity exposure and number of funds. Journal of Finance XLI(2):763-801
30. Huberman G, Sengmuller P (2004) Performance predicts asset allocation: company stock in 401(k) plans. Review of Finance 8(3):403-443 (September)
31. Iyengar S, Kamenica E. (2006) Choice overload and asset allocation: evidence from 401(k) plans, working paper, Columbia Business School and GSB University of Chicago
32. Iyengar S, Huberman G, Jiang W (2004) How much choice is too much?: contributions to 401 (k) retirement plans. In: Mitchell Utkus S (ed) Pension design and structure: new lessons from behavioral finance. Oxford University Press, pp 83-96
33. Kusko AL, Poterba JM, Wilcox DM (1998) Employee decisions with respect to 401 (k) plans: evidence from individual-level data. In: Mitchell O, Schieber S (eds) Living with defined contribution pensions: remaking responsibility for retirement. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pp 98-112
34. Liang N, Weisbenner S (2002) Investor behavior and the purchase of company stock in 401 (k) plans - the importance of plan design, NBER Working paper 9131 (August)
35. Madrian B, Shea D (2001) The power of suggestion: inertia in 401(k) participation and savings behavior. Q J Econ CXVI(4):1149-1187 (November)
36. Manski CF (1993) Identification of endogenous social effects: the reflection problem. Rev Econ Stud 60:531-542
37. Meulbroek LK (2002) Company stock in pension plans: how costly is it? Working paper, Harvard Business School
38. Mitchell OS, Utkus SP (2003) The role of company stock in defined contribution plans. In; Mitchell OS, Smetters K (eds) The pension challenge: risk transfers and retirement income security. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK pp 33-70
39. Milchell OS, Utkus SP, Yang, Tongxuan (Stella) (2005) Turning workers into savers? Incentives, liquidity and choice in 401 (k) plan design. NBER Working Paper 11726 and Wharton Pension Research Council Working Paper 2005-18
40. Mitchell OS, Utkus SP, Yang, Tongxuan (Stella) (2006) Dimensions of 401(k) plan design. In: Blitzstein D, Mitchell OS, Utkus SP (eds) Restructuring retirement risks. Oxford University Press, UK, pp 186-203
41. Munnell AH, Sunden A, Taylor C (2001) What determines 401 (K) participation and contribution? Working paper, Center for Retirement Research, Boston College
42. Papke L (2004a) Individual financial decisions in retirement saving plans: the role of participant-direction. J Public Econ 88:39-61 (January)
43. Papke L (2004b) Choice and other determinants of employee contributions to defined contribution plans. Social Secur Bull
44. Papke LE, Poterba JM (1995) Survey evidence on employer match rates and employee saving behavior in 401(k) plans. Econ Lett 49(3):313-317 (September)
45. Poterba JM (2003) Employer stock and 401(k) plans. Am Econ Rev 93(2):398-404 (May)
46. Poterba JM, Venti SF, Wise DA (1996) How retirement savings programs increase saving. J Econ Perspect 10(4):91-112(Autumn)
47. Powell JL (1984) Least absolute deviation estimation for the censored regression model. J Econom 25: 303-325
48. Profit Sharing/401 (k) Council of America (2001, 2002) The Profit Sharing/40 l(k) Survey Ramaswamy K (2002) Company stock and pension plan diversification, Working Paper, Pension Research Council
49. Shefrin H, Thaler R (1992) Mental accounting, saving, and self-control. In: Loewenstein G, Elster J (eds) Choice over time. Russel Sage Foundation, New York, pp 98-112
50. Thaler R (1999) Mental accounting matters. J Behav Decis Mak 12:183-206
51. Warner JT, Fleeter S (2001) The personal discount rate: evidence from military downsizing programs. Am Econ Rev 91(1):33-53 (March)
52. Wooldridge JM (2003) Cluster-sample methods in applied econometrics. Am Econ Rev May 2003, 93(2), pp.133-138