000			01551pab a2200169 454500
008			180718b2013 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aThom, Michael
245			_aPolitics, fiscal necessity or both? Factors driving the enactment of defined contribution accounts for public employees
260			_c2013
300			_ap.480-489.
362			_aJun
520			_aRecent conflicts over public sector defined benefit pension funding have inspired polarized debates about the need for reform, including the utility of replacing pensions with defined contribution accounts, which are popular throughout the private sector. Between 1996 and 2011, 15 American states enacted legislation to implement either mandatory or optional defined contribution accounts for certain public employees. What drove this process? This article investigates the role of political, budgetary, and contagion influences on the diffusion of defined contribution accounts for general state employees. Empirical results suggest that enactments were influenced by Republican legislative, but not executive, partisanship. Gains in state indebtedness also increased the likelihood of enactment independent of political and other factors. There is no evidence of policy learning based on neighboring state activity and no influence from two measures of organized labor power. Both quantitative and qualitative robustness checks largely reinforce these findings. - Reproduced.
650			_aCivil service
773			_aPublic Administration Review
908			_aN
909			_a99142
999			_c99141 _d99141