Defined benefit pension decline: the consequences for organizations and employees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use the theoretical and empirical pension literatures to question whether employers are likely to gain any competitive advantage from degrading or eliminating their employees’ defined benefit (DB) pensions. Design/methodology/approach – Critical literature review, bringing together and synthesizing the industrial relations, economics, social policy, and applied pensions literature. Findings – DB pension plans do deliver a number of potential performance benefits, most notably a decrease in turnover and establishment of longer-term employment relationships. However, benefits are more pronounced in some conditions than others, which are identified. Research limitations/implications – Most of the analysis of pension effects to date focuses primarily on DB plans. Yet, these are declining in significance. In the years ahead, more attention needs to be paid to the potential consequences of defined contribution plans and other types of pension. Practical implications – I...