INFLATION AND THE ACCUMULATION OF ASSETS IN PRIVATE PENSION FUNDS*

The effect of inflation on asset accumulation in private pension funds is analyzed using a stock adjustment model which incorporates nonbehavioral saving. Nonbehavioral saving (such as capital gains) occurs with considerably lower adjustment cost than behavioral saving. The regressions using time series data suggest that inflation has a large negative effect on aggregate funded pension saving. This effect is apparently not due to a behavioral adjustment to changed relative rates of return, but is primarily due to capital losses. The effect is larger the higher the proportion of pension fund holdings in corporate equities.     

Research notes/Notes de recherches

Les données d'une récente enquête canadienne sur le plan national, ont permis de poser le problème des différences de revenu perçu par la population active masculine et féminine. La part d'inégalité attribuée aux interruptions de la carrière professionnelle de la femme est évaluée ainsi que L'importance de facteurs tels L'éducation, le statut socio-économique professionnel et le nombre d'heures de travail annuel. On constate que L'inégalité entre le revenu réel (c' est-à-dire avant révision) des hommes et celui des fem-mes est moins importante au Canada q'uaux Etats-Unis lors de conditions semblables. On remarque alors que cette différence s' explique par les facteurs compris dans le modèle d'obtention d'un revenu plus que par le degré de discrimination encore existant envers la main-d'oeuvre féminine dans ces deux sociétés. En examinant la différence de revenu entre les sexes au sein des minorités autochtones et linguistiques au Canada, on trouve que L'inégalité est moins importante dans les milieux canadiens de langue française que dans les autres milieux. Data from a recent national level Canadian survey are used to address the question of income differences between working males and females. The portion of the inequality attributable to interruptions in the female work career is estimated, along with the importance of factors such as education, occupational SES, and hours worked per year. Actual (before adjustments) income inequality between males and females is found to be less in Canada than in comparable American data. This difference is found to be understand able in terms of the factors included in the model of income attainment rather than the level of residual discrimination against female workers in the two societies. The income difference by gender among nativity and language minorities in Canada is examined, and it is shown that the inequality between the sexes is smaller among French-speaking Canadians than among others     

FREE RIDING, SHIRKING, AND TEAM PRODUCTION IN LEGAL PARTNERSHIPS

A model of team production in legal partnerships, based on the Alchian-Demsetz theory of the firm, is developed and tested empirically in this paper. An estimate of the optimal law-firm size for controlling costly free riding behavior in partnerships is derived. Finally, some survivorship evidence on law-firm sizes, some comparisons of legal and medical group practices, and some thoughts on the role of the sole proprietor in the market for legal services are presented.