Managing Public Pension Plans

Gang Chen is an associate professor of public administration and policy at Rockefeller College, State University of New York, Albany, United States. He is the Co-Director of the State and Local Government Finance Project (SLGF) at the Center for Policy Research at Rockefeller College. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on addressing critical financial management challenges confronting state and local governments. His work on state and local pension plans is widely published in top-tier journals in public administration and public finance. Dr. Chen’s research has been supported by prominent associations and foundations, including the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), Society of Actuaries (SOA), Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Equable Institute, Crane Foundation, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Reason Foundation, and Pew Charitable Trusts.Trang Hoang is an associate professor in the School of Public Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha, United States. Her primary research interests include public pensions, public/nonprofit budgeting and financial management, health policy, and risk management. Dr. Hoang’s work on public pension reform received the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) Emerging Scholar Award in 2018 and Best Dissertation Award in 2019. Her research projects have been supported by the IBM Center for the Business of Government and the Governmental Accounting Standard Board (GASB). Dr. Hoang is a recipient of the Rosemary O’Leary award for excellent scholarship on women in public administration and public management.Carol Ebdon is a professor emerita in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, United States. Her research interests are in the areas of public budgeting and financial management. Dr. Ebdon has also worked in local government, including as the director of finance for the City of Omaha where her responsibilities included serving as the administrator and a member of the board of trustees for two defined benefit pension plans.

• 1. Introduction to public pension management 2. A logic model framework for public pension management 3. Balancing goals for public pension plans 4. How environment, stakeholders, and constraints shape public pension decisions 5. Investment policies and strategies for public pension funds 6. Actuarial processes and assumptions in public pension valuations 7. Understanding benefits designs and contributions policies for public pension plans 8. Pathways to public pension reforms 9. Defined contribution, cash balance, and hybrid plans in the public sector 10. Assessing the impact and tradeoffs of public pension reforms 11. Key Lessons and Emerging Issues in Public Pension Management