abstract: 'Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to use the theoretical and

  empirical pension literatures to question whether employers are likely

  to gain any competitive advantage from degrading or eliminating their

  employees'' defined benefit (DB) pensions.

  Design/methodology/approach - Critical literature review, bringing

  together and synthesizing the industrial relations, economics, social

  policy, and applied pensions literature.

  Findings - DB pension plans do deliver a number of potential performance

  benefits, most notably a decrease in turnover and establishment of

  longer-term employment relationships. However, benefits are more

  pronounced in some conditions than others, which are identified.

  Research limitations/implications - Most of the analysis of pension

  effects to date focuses primarily on DB plans. Yet, these are declining

  in significance. In the years ahead, more attention needs to be paid to

  the potential consequences of defined contribution plans and other types

  of pension.

  Practical implications - In re-evaluating DB pensions, firms have tended

  to focus on savings made through cost cutting. Yet, this approach tends

  to view a firm''s people as an expense rather a potential asset. Attempts

  to abandon, modify, or otherwise reduce such schemes has the potential

  to save money in the short term, but the negative long-term consequences

  may be considerable, even if they are not yet obvious.

  Originality/value - This paper is topical in that it consolidates

  existing research evidence from a number of different bodies of

  literature to make a case for the retention of DB pension plans, when,

  in many contexts, they are being scaled back or discarded. It raises a

  number of important issues for reflection by practitioners, and

  highlights key agendas for future scholarly research.'
affiliation: 'Harcourt, M (Corresponding Author), Univ Waikato, Waikato Management
  Sch, Dept Strategy \& Human Resource Management, Hamilton, New Zealand.

  de Thierry, Ebony; Harcourt, Mark, Univ Waikato, Waikato Management Sch, Dept Strategy
  \& Human Resource Management, Hamilton, New Zealand.

  Lam, Helen, Athabasca Univ, Fac Business, Ctr Innovat Management, St Albert, AB,
  Canada.

  Flynn, Matt, Newcastle Univ, Sch Business, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, Tyne \&
  Wear, England.

  Wood, Geoff, Univ Warwick, Warwick Business Sch, Coventry CV4 7AL, W Midlands, England.'
author: de Thierry, Ebony and Lam, Helen and Harcourt, Mark and Flynn, Matt and Wood,
  Geoff
author-email: mark@waikato.ac.nz
author_list:
- family: de Thierry
  given: Ebony
- family: Lam
  given: Helen
- family: Harcourt
  given: Mark
- family: Flynn
  given: Matt
- family: Wood
  given: Geoff
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1108/ER-02-2013-0020
eissn: 1758-7069
files: []
issn: 0142-5455
journal: EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
keywords: 'Organizational performance; Performance; Commitment; Economic crisis;

  Pensions; Terms and conditions of employment'
keywords-plus: 'OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS; LABOR-MARKET; RETIREMENT; INCOME; PORTABILITY;

  MANAGEMENT; COMMITMENT; TENURE; WORK'
language: English
number: '6'
number-of-cited-references: '74'
orcid-numbers: 'Wood, Geoffrey/0000-0001-9709-1823

  Flynn, Matt/0000-0003-4566-9464'
pages: 654-673
papis_id: 4bb66380960171183d5f9965817f98d7
ref: Dethierry2014definedbenefit
researcherid-numbers: 'Wood, Geoffrey/ABA-5274-2020

  '
times-cited: '7'
title: 'Defined benefit pension decline: the consequences for organizations and employees'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000343322800004
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '18'
volume: '36'
web-of-science-categories: Industrial Relations \& Labor; Management
year: '2014'