Work Now, Pay Later?:An Empirical Analysis of the Pension Pay-Trade Off

We investigate the potential compensating differential between wages and pensions on a sample of British workers. Random effects panel regressions are run applying the Schiller and Weiss (1980) methodology to test whether a pension-wage compensating differential exists. Using data from British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and derived prospective pension variables, calculated by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the regression results do not support evidence for a trade off. Further analysis finds no significant differences in results between public and private sector workers, even after controlling for sample selection bias wage.