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Social Security, Benefit Claiming and Labor Force Participation: A Quantitative General Equilibrium Approach

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  • Selahattin Imrohoroglu
  • Sagiri Kitao

Abstract

We build a general equilibrium model with endogenous saving, labor force participation, work hours and Social Security benefit claiming, in which overlapping generations of individuals face income, survival, and health expenditure risks in incomplete markets. We use the model to study the impact of three Social Security reforms: reductions in benefits and payroll taxes, an increase in the early retirement age from 62 to 64, and an increase in the normal retirement age from 66 to 68. We show that a reform can have a significant effect on the budget of Social Security through changes in savings as well as benefit claiming and labor force participation. When the projected aging of the population is taken into account, the case for a reform that encourages labor force participation of the elderly becomes stronger.

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  • Selahattin Imrohoroglu & Sagiri Kitao, 2010. "Social Security, Benefit Claiming and Labor Force Participation: A Quantitative General Equilibrium Approach," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2010-02, Center for Retirement Research, revised Mar 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2010-02
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    3. Ellen R. McGrattan & Edward C. Prescott, 2017. "On financing retirement with an aging population," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 8(1), pages 75-115, March.
    4. Hugo Benítez-Silva & J. Ignacio García-Pérez & Sergi Jiménez-Martín, 2011. "The effects of employment uncertainty and wealth shocks on the labor supply and claiming behavior of older American workers," Economics Working Papers 1275, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    5. Erosa, Andrés & Fuster, Luisa & Kambourov, Gueorgui, 2012. "Labor supply and government programs: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 84-107.
    6. Zou, Tieding, 2017. "延迟退休的制约因素、政策效果与动态研究方法评价 [Restriction, Policy Effect and Dynamic Research Method to Delay Retirement]," MPRA Paper 85556, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Jan 2018.
    7. Halliday, Timothy J. & He, Hui & Ning, Lei & Zhang, Hao, 2019. "Health Investment Over The Life-Cycle," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 178-215, January.
    8. Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2016. "Medicaid Insurance in Old Age," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3480-3520, November.
    9. Hugo Benítez-Silva & Eva Cárceles-Poveda & Selçuk Eren, 2011. "Effects of Legal and Unauthorized Immigration on the U.S. Social Security System," Working Papers wp250, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
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    11. Gunes Asik, 2018. "Impact of early retirement incentives on labor supply of young men and women : evidence from Turkey," Working Papers 20180002, UMR Développement et Sociétés, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.
    12. Minchung Hsu, 2013. "Health Insurance and Precautionary Saving: A Structural Analysis," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(3), pages 511-526, July.
    13. Varga, Gergely, 2014. "Demográfiai átmenet, gazdasági növekedés és a nyugdíjrendszer fenntarthatósága [Demographic transition, economic growth, and sustainability of the pension system]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1279-1318.
    14. Janicki, Hubert P., 2014. "The role of asset testing in public health insurance reform," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 169-195.

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