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A Quarterly Newsletter provides updates on current MRRC projects including recent research findings as well as information about upcoming events and information that may be of interest to the academic and policy communities. Join our mailing list for this publication.

Policy Briefs offer summary and analysis of current issues in Social Security, retirement and pension policy.

Working Papers provide rapid dissemination of MRRC research findings. Many working papers are later published in journals and books. Bound copies of working papers are available on request.

Research Briefs offer concise summaries of key research findings from MRRC projects.

In the Researcher Q&A series our affiliated researchers discuss the findings and implications of their MRRC-supported research.

Conference Papers from the Annual Meeting of the Retirement Research Consortium are available for all presentations.

All MRRC publications may be printed directly from this website.

All Publications

2023

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

rb454 , UM21-17
Gábor Kézdi, David Weir
Download: Research Brief Assessing the First Economic Impact Payment in the Older Population Using the Health and Retirement Study, PDF

Retirement Pensions and Disability Insurance for the 21st Century

WP 2023-455 , UM22-02
Tom Zawisza
This project estimates the degree of disability risk among the United States and English over-50 populations. Using a disability measure that closely matches the criteria used by English and U.S. disability systems, we find both higher levels of disability in…
Download: Working Paper Retirement Pensions and Disability Insurance for the 21st Century, PDF View: Abstract

Traditional and Nontraditional Earnings: Demographic, Financial, and Beneficiary Patterns

WP 2023-456 , UM22-06
Kathryn Edwards, Daniel Schwam
We use the 2014 and 2018 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to create a schema of earnings that come from employee and nonemployee sources. Traditional earnings are from a job or incorporated business, while nontraditional earnings…
Download: Working Paper Traditional and Nontraditional Earnings: Demographic, Financial, and Beneficiary Patterns, PDF View: Abstract

How Does Social Security Affect the Racial Wealth Gap?

WP 2023-459 , UM22-10
John Sabelhaus
The large and persistent gap by race in U.S. household wealth is a well-established empirical fact, though the causal mechanisms for wealth differentials are still a subject of much debate. Previous research on wealth inequality has shown that expanding the…
Download: Working Paper How Does Social Security Affect the Racial Wealth Gap?, PDF View: Abstract

Disparities in Social Security Knowledge and the Role of Social Capital

WP 2023-458 , UM22-12
Katherine Carman, Samer Atshan, Jhacova Williams
In this paper, we develop a new survey that seeks to better understand how differences in information sources (both formal and informal) across racial and ethnic groups contribute to knowledge and planning for retirement. We consider several scenarios where people…
Download: Working Paper Disparities in Social Security Knowledge and the Role of Social Capital, PDF View: Abstract

Bridging Employment for Older Workers and the Role of Flexible Scheduling Arrangements

WP 2023-453 , UM20-15
David Powell, Jeffrey Wenger
We conduct a series of stated preference experiments to determine the willingness of hiring and human resource managers to pay for certain job attributes. A cross section of U.S. hiring managers were given experimental vignettes about an existing employee or…
Download: Working Paper Bridging Employment for Older Workers and the Role of Flexible Scheduling Arrangements, PDF View: Abstract

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

WP 2023-454 , UM21-17
Gábor Kézdi, David Weir
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.
Download: Working Paper Assessing the First Economic Impact Payment in the Older Population Using the Health and Retirement Study, PDF View: Abstract

Bridging Employment for Older Workers and the Role of Flexible Scheduling Arrangements

rb453 , UM20-15
David Powell, Jeffrey Wenger
Download: Research Brief Bridging Employment for Older Workers and the Role of Flexible Scheduling Arrangements, PDF

2022

Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages

WP 2022-440 , UM21-10
Susann Rohwedder, Michael Hurd, Péter Hudomiet
We use new data from the 2019 wave of the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey to help interpret the observed decline in spending as individuals age. At one extreme, forward-looking individuals optimally chose the decline; at the other, myopic individuals…
Download: Working Paper Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages, PDF View: Abstract

How Redistributive Are Public Health Care Schemes? Evidence from Medicare and Medicaid in Old Age

WP 2022-441 , UM20-10
Karolos Arapakis, Eric French, John Bailey Jones, Jeremy McCauley
Most health care for the U.S. population 65 and older is publicly provided through Medicare and Medicaid. Despite the massive expenditures of these systems, little is known about how redistributive they are. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study…
Download: Working Paper How Redistributive Are Public Health Care Schemes? Evidence from Medicare and Medicaid in Old Age, PDF View: Abstract
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