Policy discussions about teacher quality and teacher "shortages" often focus on recruitment and retention of young teachers. However, attention has begun to focus on the incentive effects of teacher retirement benefit systems, particularly given their rising costs and the large unfunded liabilities. In this paper we analyze accrual of…

A model for examining the two basic approaches of encouraging later retirement is presented in which the coercive approach relies primarily on negative incentives such as benefit reductions, and the voluntary approach encourages continued employment through positive incentives and increased employment opportunities. The degree to which these…