Two teams win for outstanding scholarly writing on lifelong financial security
The TIAA-CREF Institute today announced the four recipients of the 10th annual TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security. Shlomo Benartzi, Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of California, Los Angeles and Richard H. Thaler, Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science, Economics and Finance, at the University of Chicago were recognized for their research on the effectiveness of the SMarT™ plan in increasing savings. Jonathan B. Berk, Harold Furst Associate Professor of Management Philosophy and Values at the University of California, Berkeley and Richard C. Green, Richard M. and Margaret S. Cyert Professor of Economics and Management at Carnegie Mellon University were recognized for their research on mutual fund flows and performance.
The annual award, which is administered by the TIAA-CREF Institute, recognizes original work with practical implications for individuals and their families. "This award is one of the most significant ways by which TIAA-CREF encourages rigorous research on financial security," said Madeleine d'Ambrosio, executive director of the TIAA-CREF Institute. "We are proud to play a role in honoring work that contributes to the financial well-being of individuals and their families."
The Paul A. Samuelson Award will be presented on January 6, 2006 during the Allied Social Science Associations' annual meeting in Boston. The award is named after Nobel Prize winner Paul Samuelson in honor of his achievements in the field of economics, as well as for his service as a CREF trustee from 1974-85.
Five noted scholars served as judges for the 2005 award:
About the Award-Winning Works
Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving
In this paper, published in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Shlomo Benartzi and Richard H. Thaler propose a prescriptive savings program, called Save More Tomorrow™ (the SMarT program), as a way to increase employee savings. The essence of the program is straightforward: people commit in advance to allocating a portion of their future salary increases toward retirement savings. The authors report evidence on the first three implementations of the program and find that the SMarT program is effective in increasing employee savings.
Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets
In this paper, published in the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Jonathan B. Berk and Richard C. Green provide a simple economic model to explain why money always chases returns despite the fact that professional money managers often fail to outperform passive portfolios and mutual fund performance often lacks persistence.
They show that such investor behaviors are generally consistent with a rational and competitive market for capital investment and with rational, self-interested choices by fund managers who have differential ability to generate abnormal returns. The model has direct implications for money managers, investors, and researchers.
About the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award
Named in honor of Nobel Laureate economist and former CREF Trustee Paul A. Samuelson, this award recognizes and rewards outstanding research of significant and immediate relevance to the maintenance and improvement of Americans' lifelong financial security.
About the TIAA-CREF Institute
The mission of the TIAA-CREF Institute, part of TIAA-CREF, is to foster and conduct objective research, to build knowledge, to demonstrate thought leadership, and to enhance understanding of strategic issues related to higher education and lifelong financial security. Additional information can be found at www.tiaa-crefinstitute.org.
About TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. With more than $360 billion in combined assets under management (9/30/05), TIAA-CREF is ranked one of Fortune magazine's 100 largest U.S. companies. Further information can be found at http://www.tiaa-cref.org.
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