Susann Rohwedder
Senior Economist, RAND Corporation
Susann Rohwedder is a Senior Economist at RAND, Associate Director of the RAND Center for the Study of Aging and an affiliate member of the faculty of the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research focuses on the economics of aging in the areas of household consumption and saving behavior, retirement, and expectation formation. She has written on the impact of pension reforms on household saving in the U.K.; on the adequacy of retirement resources of U.S. households near retirement; on the effect of retirement on cognitive ability; on spending and saving patterns among the older population; consumption- and income-based poverty measures at older ages, and on individuals’ expectations about future Social Security benefits and longevity. Other papers deal with data quality and survey methods. Rohwedder has extensive experience in survey design and data collection: she is jointly responsible for the design of the HRS Consumption and Activities Mail Survey, several modules for the American Life Panel (ALP) and the HRS Internet Survey. In a most recent research effort she is leading the collection of high-frequency household data to assess and track the effects of the Great Recession.
Several of her research activities have an international dimension: she participated in an international savings comparison project; she has ongoing work comparing saving and retirement across the U.S. and several European countries; she participated in the European Research Training Network on the Economics of Ageing in Europe and is a research fellow of NETSPAR in the Netherlands. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from University College London and holds Masters degrees from the University of Warwick (UK) and the Sorbonne in Paris.
Projects
- UM23-Q1: RAND HRS Poverty Measures for HRS 1994
- UM23-20: Enhancing the RAND HRS CAMS Public Use File
- UM23-16: Saving Regret in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic
- UM23-12: Inflation and Economic Security of the Older Population
- UM22-09: Risk of Large Medical Expenditures at Older Ages and Their Impact on Economic Well-being
- UM22-07: The Effect of COVID on Expected and Actual Labor Supply and Social Security Claiming Among Older Workers
- UM21-Q5: Extending RAND HRS Poverty Measures to Earlier HRS Waves
- UM21-Q3: Adding New Variables to the RAND HRS Longitudinal File to Better Support Research on Disability
- UM21-12: The Lifetime Risk of Spousal Nursing Home Use and its Economic Impact on the Community-dwelling Spouse
- UM21-10: Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages
- UM20-17: Saving Regret: Self-assessed Life-cycle Saving Behavior in the U.S. and Singapore
- UM20-04: Forecasting survival by socioeconomic status and implications for Social Security benefits, Year 2
- UM19-04: Forecasting Survival by Socioeconomic Status and Implications for Social Security Benefits
- UM19-07: How Reliant Are Older Americans on State and Local Government Pensions?
- UM18-Q4: Assessing Economic Resources in Retirement: The Role of Withdrawals from Tax-Advantaged Retirement Accounts
- UM18-Q3: Addition to the RAND HRS Longitudinal Files: IRA Withdrawals in the HRS, 2000-2016
- UM17-10: How do Changes in Health and Cognition Affect the Timing of Retirement? Evidence from Occupational Job Demands and Job Mismatch
- UM16-13: The Impact of Unemployment and Re-Employment on Household Consumption Measured at High Frequency over a Six-Year Period
- UM15-10: Measuring Economic Preparation for Retirement: Income Versus Consumption
- UM14-06: The Effect of Wealth Shocks in the Great Recession on Time-use and Budget Shares.
- UM13-Q4: Cognitive Ability, Expectations, and Beliefs about the Future: Psychological influences on retirement decisions
- UM13-05: Expectations and Consumption
- UM12-11: Personality Traits and Economic Preparation for Retirement
- UM12-06: Expectations about Social Security and Retirement Planning: The Role of Uncertainty and the Impact of Economic Shocks
- UM11-17: Consumption and Differential Mortality
- UM11-10: The Effects of the Financial Crisis on Actual and Anticipated Consumption
- UM10-18: The Effect of Out-of-Pocket Spending for Health Care on Economic Preparation for Retirement
- UM10-06: The Effects of the Economic Crisis on Retirement and Spending
- UM09-16: International comparisons: The Effect of Policy on Work, Disability and Wealth
- UM09-08: The Level and Risk of Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending
- UM08-16: Pension Reform in Mexico: The Effect of Personal Retirement Accounts on Preparation for Retirement
- UM08-11: Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement: Model-Based Estimations
- UM08-08: Individuals’ Uncertainty about Their Future Social Security Benefits
- UM07-21: Forecasting Labor Force Participation and Economic Resources of the Early Baby-Boomers
- UM07-07: Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement and Returns-to-scale in Consumption
- UM06-14: Pathways to Bad Retirement Outcomes
- UM06-03: Alternative Measures of Replacement Rates
- UM05-10: The Impact of Misperceptions about Social Security on Saving and Well-Being
- UM05-08: Consumption and Economic Well-Being at Older Ages
- UM04-13: Changes in Consumption and Activities in Retirement
- UM03-10: Consumption and Time-Use Before and After Retirement
Publications
- Risk of Large Medical Expenditures at Older Ages and Their Impact on Economic Well-being (Working Paper)
- Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages (Research Brief)
- Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages (Working Paper)
- The Lifetime Risk of Spousal Nursing Home Use and its Economic Impact on the Community-dwelling Spouse (Research Brief)
- The Lifetime Risk of Spousal Nursing Home Use and its Economic Impact on the Community-dwelling Spouse (Working Paper)
- Saving Regret: Self-assessed Life-cycle Saving Behavior in the U.S. and Singapore (Research Brief)
- The Impact of Growing Health and Mortality Inequalities on Lifetime Social Security Payouts (Research Brief)
- Saving Regret: Self-assessed Life-cycle Saving Behavior in the U.S. and Singapore (Working Paper)
- The Impact of Growing Health and Mortality Inequalities on Lifetime Social Security Payouts (Working Paper)
- Trends in Health and Mortality Inequalities in the United States (Research Brief)
- Trends in Health and Mortality Inequalities in the United States (Working Paper)
- How Reliant are Older Americans on State and Local Government Pensions? (Research Brief)
- How Reliant are Older Americans on State and Local Government Pensions? (Working Paper)
- 2019 RDRC Meeting: Forecasting Survival by Socioeconomic Status and Implications for Social Security Benefits (2019 RDRC)
- Assessing Economic Resources in Retirement: The Role of Irregular Withdrawals from Tax-Advantaged Retirement Accounts (Research Brief)
- Addition to the RAND HRS Longitudinal Files: IRA Withdrawals in the HRS, 2000 to 2014 (Research Brief)
- Addition to the RAND HRS Longitudinal Files: IRA Withdrawals in the HRS, 2000 to 2014 (Working Paper)
- Assessing Economic Resources in Retirement: The Role of Irregular Withdrawals from Tax-Advantaged Retirement Accounts (Working Paper)
- The Effect of Physical and Cognitive Decline at Older Ages on Work and Retirement: Evidence from Occupational Job Demands and Job Mismatch (Research Brief)
- The Effect of Physical and Cognitive Decline at Older Ages on Work and Retirement: Evidence from Occupational Job Demands and Job Mismatch (Working Paper)
- Consumption Smoothing During the Financial Crisis: The Effect of Unemployment on Household Spending (Research Brief)
- Consumption Smoothing During the Financial Crisis: The Effect of Unemployment on Household Spending (Working Paper)
- Measuring Economic Preparation for Retirement: Income Versus Consumption (Research Brief)
- Measuring Economic Preparation for Retirement: Income Versus Consumption (Working Paper)
- Responses of Time-use to Shocks in Wealth during the Great Recession (Research Brief)
- Responses of Time-use to Shocks in Wealth during the Great Recession (Working Paper)
- Expectations and Household Spending (Research Brief)
- Cognitive Ability, Expectations, and Beliefs about the Future: Psychological Influences on Retirement Decisions (Research Brief)
- Expectations and Household Spending (Working Paper)
- Cognitive Ability, Expectations, and Beliefs about the Future: Psychological Influences on Retirement Decisions (Working Paper)
- Labor Force Transitions at Older Ages: The Roles of Work Environment and Personality (Research Brief)
- Labor Force Transitions at Older Ages: The Roles of Work Environment and Personality (Working Paper)
- Personality Traits and Economic Preparation for Retirement (Working Paper)
- Personality Traits and Economic Preparation for Retirement (Research Brief)
- The Effects of the Financial Crisis on Actual and Anticipated Consumption (Research Brief)
- Consumption and Differential Mortality (Research Brief)
- Consumption and Differential Mortality (Working Paper)
- The Effects of the Financial Crisis on Actual and Anticipated Consumption (Working Paper)
- The Effect of the Risk of Out-of-Pocket Spending for Health Care on Economic Preparation for Retirement (Research Brief)
- The Effect of the Risk of Out-of-Pocket Spending for Health Care on Economic Preparation for Retirement (Working Paper)
- The Effects of the Economic Crisis on the Older Population (Working Paper)
- The Effects of the Economic Crisis on the Older Population (Research Brief)
- Displacement Effect of Public Pensions on the Accumulation of Financial Assets (Research Brief)
- Level and Risk of Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending (Research Brief)
- The Level and Risk of Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending (Working Paper)
- The Displacement Effect of Public Pensions on the Accumulation of Financial Assets (Working Paper)
- Individuals' Responses to Social Security Reform (Research Brief)
- Pension Reform in Mexico: Effect of Pension Fund Fees on Fund Balances (Research Brief)
- Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement (Research Brief)
- Pension Reform in Mexico: The Evolution of Pension Fund Management Fees and their Effect on Pension Balances (Working Paper)
- Preparation for Retirement, Financial Literacy and Cognitive Resources (Working Paper)
- Individuals’ Responses to Social Security Reform (Working Paper)
- The Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement (Working Paper)
- Adequacy of Resources in Retirement (Conference Paper)
- Forecasting Labor Force Participation and Economic Resources of the Early Baby Boomers (Working Paper)
- Adequacy of Economic Resources in Retirement and Returns-to-scale in Consumption (Working Paper)
- Self-Assessed Retirement Outcomes: Determinants and Pathways (Working Paper)
- Alternative Measures of Replacement Rates (Working Paper)
- Alternative Measures of Replacement Rates (Conference Paper)
- Consumption and Economic Well-Being at Older Ages: Income- and Consumption-based Poverty Measures in the HRS (Conference Paper)
- The Impact of Misperceptions about Social Security on Saving and Well-being (Working Paper)
- Consumption and Economic Well-Being at Older Ages: Income- and Consumption-Based Poverty Measures in the HRS (Working Paper)
- Changes in Consumption and Activities in Retirement (Research Brief)
- Changes in Consumption and Activities in Retirement (Working Paper)
- Changes in Consumption and Activities in Retirement (Conference Paper)
- The Retirement-Consumption Puzzle: Anticipated and Actual Declines in Spending at Retirement (Working Paper)
Researchers by Institution
- AARP
- Abt Associates
- American University
- Arizona State University
- Australian National University
- Bocconi University
- Boston University
- Brookings Institute
- Brown University
- California State University
- Carleton University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
- City College of New York (CUNY)
- City University of New York
- Claremont Graduate University
- Columbia University
- Concordia University-Canada
- Copenhagen Business School
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth College
- Duke University
- European Commission
- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneanapolis
- Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
- Federal Reserve Bank-Richmond
- Federal Reserve Bank-San Francisco
- Federal Reserve Board
- Florida State University
- George Washington University
- Georgetown University
- Goethe University
- Harvard University
- HEC Montréal
- Imperial College London
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
- Ithaca College
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kyoto University
- Louisiana State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Mathematica Policy Research
- Max Planck Institute
- Michigan State University
- National Institute on Aging
- National University of Singapore
- New School of Social Research
- New York University
- Occidental College
- Ohio State University
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Other
- Pennsylvania State University
- Princeton
- Purdue University
- RAND Corporation
- Social Security Administration
- Stanford University
- SUNY-Buffalo
- SUNY-Stony Brook
- Syracuse University
- Texas A&M University
- Texas Tech University
- The College of William & Mary
- Tilburg University
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Universidad de Chile
- University College London
- University of Alabama
- University of Arkansas
- University of Bristol
- University of California-Berkeley
- University of California-Davis
- University of California-Irvine
- University of California-Los Angeles
- University of California-San Diego
- University of Cambridge
- University of Chicago
- University of Colorado at Boulder
- University of Colorado Denver
- University of Essex
- University of Frankfort
- University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability
- University of New South Wales
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Oregon
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas
- University of Victoria
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington
- University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Urban Institute
- Vanderbilt University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Wayne State University
- Wellesley College
- Williams College
- Yale University