SLGF Awarded Research Grant for Pension Plan Analysis

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 16, 2020) – The Research Foundation for The State University of New York has awarded Rockefeller College’s co-directors of the Project on State and Local Government Finance (SLGF) Donald J. Boyd and Gang Chen a grant for their project, “California Public Pension Plan Policy Analysis.” In addition to Boyd and Chen, the project team includes Center for Policy Research (CPR) researcher and modeler Yimeng Yin.

The grant sponsored by the Carla and David Crane Foundation amounts to $275,000 over the course of two years. The project will model the finances of four California public pension funds, including a component of a state fund, a local government fund, a school district pension fund, and one other local California fund.

“A major goal of the project is to examine how potential policy options would affect governments contributing to the plans, participants in the plans, and plan funding,” said Boyd. The project team intends to examine risk-sharing options as well as other benefit and contribution options. 

Boyd, Chen, and Yin will develop stochastic simulation models to estimate and project important measures such as actuarial liability, normal cost, benefit payments, employer and employee contributions, and the plan funded ratio under current and alternative policies. The project will culminate in a highly readable report for stakeholders of public pension plans — employees, retirees, governments, elected officials, and taxpayers.

The Project on State and Local Government Finance (SLGF) is dedicated to conducting research on fiscal issues in state and local governments in the United States. Its central mission is to produce objective, rigorous, and in-depth analysis to inform and educate policy makers and stakeholders of state and local governments, to help them make better financial management decisions.