TY - JOUR AU - Allen,Steven G. AU - Clark,Robert L. TI - Pensions and Firm Performance JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 2266 PY - 1987 Y2 - May 1987 DO - 10.3386/w2266 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2266 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2266.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Steven G. Allen Jenkins Graduate School of Management NC State University 2124 Nelson Hall P.O.Box 7229 Raleigh, NC 27695-7229 Tel: 919/515-6941 Fax: 919/515-5073 E-Mail: steve_allen@ncsu.edu Robert L. Clark Poole College of Management Box 7229 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 27695 Tel: 919/515-4568 Fax: 919/515-6943 E-Mail: robert_clark@ncsu.edu AB - This paper examines how pension plans affect employee behavior and firm performance. Theoretically, the impact of pensions on firm performance cannot be predicted. Firms with pensions should have lower turnover rates and more efficient retirement decisions; their employees will be less likely to shirk. On the other hand, pension compensation is not very closely linked to worker performance and there is some risk that turnover may fall too much. The evidence indicates that although wages do not seem to fall with pension compensation, profit rates are not affected by pension coverage. This suggests that pension coverage is associated with higher productivity, a proposition that is supported by indirect evidence on pensions, turnover, and productivity but not by direct tests of how pension coverage and productivity are correlated. ER -