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Choice and Other Determinants of Employee Contributions to Defined Contribution Plans

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by Leslie E. Papke

WP#2004-6  

Abstract

Understanding the role that 401(k) plan characteristics – like investment choice – play in participation and employee contributions is important as more workers rely on this type of retirement plan and proposals for Social Security solvency include individual savings plans. Using the 1992 Health and Retirement Study, this paper investigates which individual and job characteristics are associated with asset choice in defined contribution plans. Investment choice is found to substantially increase contributions to defined contribution plans.

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Leslie E. Papke is a Professor of Economics at Michigan State University. The research reported herein was performed pursuant to a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). This grant was awarded through the CRR’s Steven H. Sandell Grant Program for Junior Scholars in Retirement Research. The opinions and conclusions are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of the SSA or any agency of the Federal Government or of the CRR.
Tags: Private Pensions, Working Papers,
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