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Automatic Enrollment, Employer Match Rates and Employee Compensation in 401(k) Plans

Author

Listed:
  • Butrica, Barbara A.

    (Urban Institute)

  • Karamcheva, Nadia S

    (Congressional Budget Office)

Abstract

This study uses restricted-access employer-level microdata from the National Compensation Survey to examine the relationship between automatic enrollment and employee compensation. By boosting plan participation, automatic enrollment has the potential to increase employer defined contribution plan costs as previously unenrolled workers receive matching contributions. Using cross-sectional variation in employer compensation costs and the automatic enrollment provision within firms sponsoring DC plans, we examine differences in compensation between those with and without the provision. A significant negative correlation exists between the generosity of the employer match structure and the automatic enrollment provision. However, we find no evidence that total compensation costs or DC costs differ between firms with and without automatic enrollment, and no evidence that DC costs crowd out other forms of compensation.

Suggested Citation

  • Butrica, Barbara A. & Karamcheva, Nadia S, 2015. "Automatic Enrollment, Employer Match Rates and Employee Compensation in 401(k) Plans," IZA Discussion Papers 8807, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8807
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp8807.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mauricio Soto & Barbara A. Butrica, 2009. "Will Automatic Enrollment Reduce Employer Contributions to 401(k) Plans?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2009-33, Center for Retirement Research, revised Dec 2009.
    2. Brady, Peter J., 2007. "Pension nondiscrimination rules and the incentive to cross subsidize employees," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 127-145, July.
    3. John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2010. "The Impact of Employer Matching on Savings Plan Participation under Automatic Enrollment," NBER Chapters, in: Research Findings in the Economics of Aging, pages 311-327, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Nadia Karamcheva & Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, 2010. "Is Pension Inequality Growing?," Issues in Brief ib2009-10-1, Center for Retirement Research, revised Jan 2010.
    5. Gary V. Engelhardt & Anil Kumar, 2007. "Employer Matching and 401(k) Saving: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," NBER Chapters, in: Public Policy and Retirement, Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES), pages 1920-1943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian & Andrew Metrick, 2001. "Defined Contribution Pensions: Plan Rules, Participant Decisions, and the Path of Least Resistance," NBER Working Papers 8655, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Keenan Dworak-Fisher, 2008. "Encouraging Participation in 401(k) Plans: Reconsidering the Employer Match," Working Papers 420, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Justin Falk & Nadia Karamcheva, 2019. "The Effect of the Employer Match and Defaults on Federal Workers’ Savings Behavior in the Thrift Savings Plan: Working Paper 2019-06," Working Papers 55447, Congressional Budget Office.
    2. James M. Poterba, 2018. "The Changing Pattern of Stock Ownership in the US: 1989–2013," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(1), pages 1-17, January.
    3. Robert L. Clark & Denis Pelletier, 2019. "Impact of Defaults in Retirement Saving Plans: Public Employee Plans," NBER Working Papers 26234, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jonathan Cribb & Carl Emmerson, 2016. "What happens when employers are obliged to nudge? Automatic enrolment and pension saving in the UK," IFS Working Papers W16/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    5. Jing Huang & Steven R. Matsunaga & Z. Jay Wang, 2020. "The Role of Pension Business Benefits in Institutional Block Ownership and Corporate Governance," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 1959-1989, December.
    6. Jonathan Cribb & Carl Emmerson, 2020. "What happens to workplace pension saving when employers are obliged to enrol employees automatically?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(3), pages 664-693, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    automatic enrollment; defined contribution plan costs; employer match generosity; employee wage and non-wage compensation; firm behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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