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Total Reward and pensions in the UK in the public and private sectors

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  • Danzer, Alexander M.
  • Dolton, Peter J.

Abstract

Recent controversy has surrounded the relative value of public and private sector remuneration. We propose a comprehensive measure of Total Reward (TR) which includes not just pay, but pensions and other ’benefits in kind’, evaluate it as the present value of the sum of all these payments over the lifetime and compare it for the highly educated in the UK public and private sectors. Our results suggest that TR is broadly equalised over the lifecycle for highly educated men while highly educated women have a clear TR advantage in the public sector by the end of their career. We suggest that the current controversy over public-private sector pension differentials and the perennial issues of public/private sector pay gaps requires a lifetime perspective and that the concept of TR is appropriate.

Suggested Citation

  • Danzer, Alexander M. & Dolton, Peter J., 2012. "Total Reward and pensions in the UK in the public and private sectors," Munich Reprints in Economics 20028, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenar:20028
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    Cited by:

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    3. Prümer, Stephanie, 2021. "Sector switching in Germany," Discussion Papers 122, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    4. Melanie Jones & Gerry Makepeace & Victoria Wass, 2018. "The UK Gender Pay Gap 1997–2015: What Is the Role of the Public Sector?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 296-319, April.
    5. Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina & Prümer, Stephanie, 2022. "Understanding the public-private sector wage gap in Germany: New evidence from a Fixed Effects quantile Approach∗," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Bold, Tessa & Barton, Nicholas & Sandefur, Justin, 2017. "Measuring Rents from Public Employment: Regression discontinuity evidence from Kenya," CEPR Discussion Papers 12105, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Philip Murphy & David Blackaby & Nigel O'Leary & Anita Staneva, 2020. "Understanding What Has Been Happening to the Public‐Sector Pay Premium in Great Britain: A Distributional Approach Based on the Labour Force Survey," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 273-300, June.
    8. Nicholas Barton & Tessa Bold & Justin Sandefur, 2017. "Measuring Rents from Public Employment: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Kenya - Working Paper 457," Working Papers 457, Center for Global Development.
    9. Danzer, Natalia, 2019. "Job satisfaction and self-selection into the public or private sector: Evidence from a natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 46-62.
    10. Gomes, Pedro Maia & Kuehn, Zoë, 2019. "You’re the One That I Want! Public Employment and Women’s Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 12702, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Andrea Camilli & Pedro Gomes, 2023. "Public employment and homeownership dynamics," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 101-155, January.
    12. Gomes, Pedro Maia & Wellschmied, Felix, 2020. "Public-Sector Compensation over the Life Cycle," IZA Discussion Papers 13042, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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