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Trading pay for pensions: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment in the United Kingdom

  • Nick Deschacht
  • , Inés Guillemyn
  • , Sunčica Vujić
  • KU Leuven
  • Ghent University
  • University of Antwerp
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • IZA@LISER

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study estimates individuals’ willingness to pay for pension benefits using a discrete choice experiment with fictitious job advertisements conducted among workers in the United Kingdom (UK). The results indicate that workers are willing to trade off current pay for additional pension benefits, with the average worker willing to forgo 0.3% of their current wage for a one percentage point increase in pension benefits. Willingness to pay varies significantly across individuals, increasing with proximity to retirement age, higher income levels and risk aversion.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102932
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalLabour Economics
Volume101
Early online date1 Jul 2026
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2026

Data Availability Statement

The authors do not have permission to share data.

Acknowledgements

We thank seminar and conference participants at the University of Antwerp, KU Leuven, AASLE/SOLE/EALE 2025 conference in Toronto and the 2025 Netspar Pension Day for valuable comments and discussions.

Funding

We thank seminar and conference participants at the University of Antwerp, KU Leuven, AASLE/SOLE/EALE 2025 conference in Toronto and the 2025 Netspar Pension Day for valuable comments and discussions. Inés Guillemyn acknowledges funding for this research from the Research Foundation Flanders , grant number: 11D5225N .

FundersFunder number
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek11D5225N

    Keywords

    • Discrete choice experiment (DCE)
    • United Kingdom
    • Wage–pension trade-off

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Economics and Econometrics
    • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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