Overview
Joshua Rauh is a finance economist at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a research associate at the NBER. His research focuses on pension economics, corporate finance, and public pension liabilities. He co-authored the Poterba-Rauh-Venti-Wise (2006) simulation study of lifecycle asset allocation strategies in 401(k) plans and is a prominent critic of state and local government pension underfunding.
Key Contributions
- Poterba-Rauh-Venti-Wise (2006): Simulation study using HRS earnings histories showing that lifecycle (target-date) funds produce retirement wealth distributions nearly identical to age-invariant strategies with the same average equity share; the key determinants of expected utility are the equity premium, risk aversion, and non-401(k) wealth — not the glide path design. See Lifecycle Asset Allocation.
- Public pension underfunding: Major empirical work documenting underfunding of state and local government pension plans (Novy-Marx and Rauh); estimates that true unfunded liabilities substantially exceed official reporting when discounted at risk-free rates.
- Firm capital structure and pensions: Research on how defined benefit pension obligations affect corporate financial decisions, including capital structure and investment.
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