2004 – Publication Years

Characteristics of and determinants of the density of contributions in a Private Social Security System

June 14, 2018
International, Social Security

This paper investigates previously unresearched issues pertaining to the well-known Chilean innovations in Social Security. Previous empirical studies of the Chilean system used aggregate and macro data, without attention to individual heterogeneity. This study uses new household survey data, linked…

SSI for the Aged and the Problem of ‘Take-Up

June 14, 2018
Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides an income and health care safety net for the elderly poor. The phenomenon of apparently eligible households that do not enroll in, or 'take up' SSI has been noted as a severe problem…

The Impact of the 1996 SSI Childhood Disability Reforms: Evidence from Matched SIPP-SSA Data

June 14, 2018
Disability, Supplemental Security Income

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 changed the definition of disability used to determine eligibility for disabled children under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and made other changes in the program. The law required the…

Understanding Patterns of Social Security Benefit Receipt, Pensions Incomes, Retirement and Saving by Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Marital Status: A Structural Approach

June 14, 2018
Family dynamics, Health and Retirement Study, pensions, Social Security

In this paper we use data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine differences in retirement behavior, wealth, Social Security and pension benefits by race and gender. The differences observed among groups are sometimes substantial. We then estimate models…

How to Evaluate the Effects of Social Security Policies on Retirement and Saving When Firm Policies Affect the Opportunities Facing Older Individuals

June 14, 2018
Health, Health and Retirement Study, Older workers, Retirement, Social Security

This project uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine, in the context of a structural retirement model, the effects on retirement of non-wage aspects of employment emanating from firm side factors. Factors examined include minimum hours constraints,…

Modeling Lifetime Earnings Paths: Hypothetical versus Actual Workers

June 14, 2018
Health and Retirement Study

To assess the distributional effects of social security reform proposals, it is essential to have good information on real-world workers’ lifetime earnings trajectories. Until recently, however, policymakers have relied on hypothetical earnings profiles for policy analysis. We use actual lifetime…

Random Scenario Forecasts Versus Stochastic Forecasts

June 14, 2018
Uncategorized

Probabilistic population forecasts are useful because they describe uncertainty in a quantitatively useful way. One approach (that we call LT) uses historical data to estimate stochastic models (e.g., a time series model) of vital rates, and then makes forecasts. Another…

The Retirement-Consumption Puzzle: Anticipated and Actual Declines in Spending at Retirement

June 14, 2018
International, Life-cycle model, Retirement

The simple one-good model of life-cycle consumption requires “consumption smoothing.” However, British and U.S. households apparently reduce consumption at retirement and the reduction cannot be explained by the life-cycle model. An interpretation is that retirees are surprised by the inadequacy…

Elderly Households and Housing Wealth: Do They Use It or Lose It?

June 14, 2018
Financial well-being, Medicaid

Over 80 percent of households in their 50s are homeowners and housing wealth accounts for over half of total household wealth for most of these homeowners. The evidence in the literature on whether the elderly are consuming their housing wealth…

A Cross-National Comparison of the Employment for Men With Disabilities: The United States and Germany in the 1980s and 1990s

June 14, 2018
Disability, International

Using a single period measure to capture the population with disabilities in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics we observe the same dramatic decline in the relative employment rate of working age people with disabilities in the 1990s that is…