In this paper, we present an analysis of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS) pension plan and an empirical investigation of the behavioral response to that plan, as well as to a possible reform plan. We begin by describing the plan parameters and discussing the incentives these parameters create. We then estimate the effect of pension…

This paper exploits a major, unanticipated reform of the California teachers' pension to provide quasi-experimental evidence on the link between pension generosity and retirement timing. Using two large administrative datasets, the author conducts a reduced-form analysis of the pension reform and estimates a structural model of retirement timing.…

Policy discussions about teacher quality and teacher "shortages" often focus on recruitment and retention of young teachers. However, attention has begun to focus on the incentive effects of teacher retirement benefit systems, particularly given their rising costs and the large unfunded liabilities. In this paper we analyze accrual of…

National policy makers have put forth different life cycle planning proposals for the more satisfying integration of education, work and leisure over the life course. This speech describes a decision making scheme, the Time Paradigm, for researched-based choice among various proposals. The scheme is defined in terms of a typology of time-related…

A typology of time-related concepts is put forth as a step toward the building of comprehensive theory in aging. The concepts derive from statistics (age, cohort, period effects), the theoretical writings of Sorokin (life course role sequences, durations and rates), the writings of Riley (on the synchronization of life course socialization and…

The university for the third age (U3A) began in 1973 when a professor organized a summer program for retired persons at the Universite des Sciences Socialies, Toulouse, France. The Toulouse model included a weekly public lecture on a major topic of concern for older persons, discussion groups, seminars, and recreational facilities, taking…

Since 1972 the national percentage of tenured faculty has risen from 43 to 60 percent, and from 23 to 52 percent at York College of Pennsylvania. The tenure policy has been debated there and nationally, and the college has changed its policy almost annually. This study first established an analytic faculty profile to determine the parameters for a…

Facing a future of static or declining funding available for faculty salaries, higher education must evolve strategies to enable its institutions to avoid stagnation of their faculty. Guidelines for health-science school administrators in formulating policies to maintain faculty vitality are proposed. (Author/MLW)

A model for examining the two basic approaches of encouraging later retirement is presented in which the coercive approach relies primarily on negative incentives such as benefit reductions, and the voluntary approach encourages continued employment through positive incentives and increased employment opportunities. The degree to which these…

Military personnel facing forced retirement are prime candidates for retraining as teachers. As mature adult learners, retiring/retired military personnel have certain needs that must be addressed if they are to become successful in their educational careers. Knowles' six assumptions of andragogy acknowledge these special needs as follows: adults…

A continuing concern in a number of teaching fields is the shortage of fully qualified teachers. The decisions of fully qualified teachers to continue in their teaching assignments (retention), to transfer to another assignment (transfer), or to leave the profession for some other activity (exit attrition) are the major determinants of the degree…

Changes in the composition of faculty with regard to age, tenure status, number of new members, average salary, turnover rate, and percentage of nontenured faculty receiving tenure are of concern to university policy makers. As a result of developments, such as changes in the mandatory retirement age and the limited growth of universities,…

The impact of alternative institutional policies on faculty mix, salary expense, and turnover is assessed. Guidelines are offered to aid health science school administrators to maintain faculty vitality through a period of retrenchment and new federal retirement law. A "typical" hypothetical school of medicine is simulated using a…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on workplace issues that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Maximizing Opportunities for the Aging Workforce through Workplace Design" (Virginia W. Kupritz), reports on the second phase of study of the office design features needed to provide…