Behavioral economics

Assessing the First Economic Impact Payment in the Older Population Using the Health and Retirement Study

• February 28, 2023
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, COVID-19, Family dynamics, Financial well-being, Health and Retirement Study

Assessing the First Economic Impact Payment in the Older Population Using the Health and Retirement Study

• February 15, 2023
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, COVID-19, Family dynamics, Financial well-being, Health and Retirement Study

We use data collected by the Health and Retirement Study in its 2020 wave to study awareness and impact of the Economic Impact Payment stimulus on different groups of older Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.

Saving Regret: Self-assessed Life-cycle Saving Behavior in the U.S. and Singapore

• June 15, 2021
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, Financial well-being, International, Life-cycle model

Subjective Expectations, Social Security Benefits, and the Optimal Path to Retirement

• April 22, 2020
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, benefit claiming, retirement savings, Social Security

Saving Regret: Self-assessed Life-cycle Saving Behavior in the U.S. and Singapore

• November 4, 2019
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, Financial well-being, retirement savings

Some studies have raised concerns that many households reach retirement with limited financial resources. The behavioral economics literature posits that procrastination may be an important explanation. We fielded a survey in the RAND American Life Panel, asking respondents ages 60…

2018 Key Findings

• July 15, 2019
• Susan Barnes
• Administrative data link, Affordable Care Act, Behavioral economics, benefit claiming, Cognition, Financial well-being, Health and Retirement Study, Health reform, International, Labor force participation, Labor Supply, Life-cycle model, Long-term care, Medicaid, Medicare, Mortality trends, OASDI trust funds, Older workers, Payroll taxes, pensions, Program interaction, retirement savings, Second career, Social Security, Social Security program communications, Social Security reform, Social Security spousal benefits, Supplemental Security Income, Totalization, Veterans

Using Consequence Messaging to Improve Understanding of Social Security

• December 10, 2018
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, Social Security program communications

Subjective Expectations, Social Security Benefits, and Saving for Retirement

• November 29, 2018
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, retirement savings, Social Security program communications

Americans reach retirement with varying degrees of preparation, with many facing shortfalls in savings. We propose to use unique survey data collected among respondents to the Understanding America Study to measure the relative roles of subjective beliefs about retirement income — particularly…

Using Consequence Messaging to Improve Understanding of Social Security

• November 28, 2018
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, Social Security program communications

In this paper, we developed and evaluated “consequence messaging,” a behaviorally motivated communication strategy in which we used vignettes — video and written stories about hypothetical people — to explain the consequences of decisions. We studied two related areas where…

Quicksand or Bedrock for Behavioral Economics? Assessing Foundational Empirical Questions

• August 10, 2018
• Susan Barnes
• Behavioral economics, Financial well-being