PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Friedberg, Leora
AU  - Webb, Anthony
TI  - Retirement and the Evolution of Pension Structure
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.XL.2.281
DP  - 2005 Mar 31
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 281--308
VI  - XL
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XL/2/281.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XL/2/281.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2005 Mar 31; XL
AB  - Defined benefit pension plans have become considerably less common since the early 1980s, while defined contribution plans have spread. Previous research showed that defined benefit plans, with sharp incentives encouraging retirement after a certain point, contributed to the striking decline in American retirement ages. In this paper we find that the absence of age-related incentives in defined contribution plans leads workers to retire almost two years later on average, compared to workers with defined benefit plans. Thus, the evolution of pension structure can help explain recent increases in the typical retirement age, after decades of decline.