ACCOUNTING FOR SOCIAL SECURITY CLAIMING BEHAVIOR

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pashchenko, Svetlana; Porapakkarm, Ponpoje
• 署名单位: University System of Georgia; University of Georgia; National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies; University System of Georgia; University of Georgia
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/iere.12658
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 505-545
• 关键词: life-cycle; earnings test; retirement; consumption; insurance; WEALTH; HEALTH; accumulation; INEQUALITY; bequests

摘要

We study why Social Security benefit claiming is concentrated at two ages, 62 and the full retirement age, and provide three main findings. First, we show that claiming behavior can be well explained by a parsimonious life-cycle model with fully rational agents. The two key mechanisms are (i) the strong unwillingness to hold annuities and (ii) the effects of the earnings test. Second, we show that current rules distort claiming and labor supply decisions, and eliminating these distortions results in large welfare gains. Finally, we show that claiming decisions can be used to sharpen the identification of important preference parameters.