Placing the Production of Investment Returns: An Economic Geography of Asset Management in Public Pension Plans

Public pension funds are engulfed in a severe funding crisis. At stake is the financial stability of state and local governments as well as the welfare of over thirty million public-sector employees. Although cutting back on external asset management expenses could help save billions in taxpayers’ money and improve public pension funding, recent research suggests that public pensions remain predominantly outsourced and keep paying high fees to...