Faculty Pension Choices in a Public Institution: Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Plans

Robert L. Clark, Professor, College of Management; Loretta Harper, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources; and M. Melinda Pitts, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Economics, all of North Carolina State University

March 1997 | Issue # 50

This issue presents research conducted at North Carolina State University, a large public university whose faculty can choose between a public defined benefit plan and three defined contribution alternatives: VALIC, Lincoln National, and TIAA-CREF. This study provides a sophisticated probit analysis of factors involved in pension vehicle choices among newly hired faculty. While the study is limited to a single university, it offers considerable insight into the demographics of pension choice among available pension options.