Social Security and Retirement around the World

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Micro-Estimation represents the second stage of an ongoing research project studying the relationship between social security and labor supply. In the first volume, Jonathan Gruber and David A. Wise revealed enormous disincentives to continued work at older ages in developed countries. Provisions in many social security programs were shown to encourage retirement by reducing total compensation for work, thereby inducing older employees to leave the labor force early, magnifying the financial burden caused by population aging. At a certain age there simply is little financial benefit to continued work in many countries.

In this volume, Jonathan Gruber and David A. Wise turn to a country-by-country analysis of retirement behavior based on micro-data. The result of research compiled by teams in twelve countries, the papers in this volume show a strong relationship between levels of social security incentives and retirement behavior in each country. Further, the estimates show that the effect is strikingly uniform in countries with very different cultural histories, labor market institutions, and other social characteristics.

The key advantage of the micro-estimation approach of this volume is that in each country the effects on retirement of changes in social security provisions can be predicted. To demonstrate the effects of such changes, each of the papers here includes simulations of the effects of two illustrative reforms. One illustrative reform delays the benefit eligibility ages in each of the countries. A second illustrative reform assumes common provisions in each of the countries-reducing retirement incentives in some countries and increasing incentives in others.

Utilizing the best methods, the conclusions to be drawn from Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Micro-Estimation will provide economists with the freshest and most provoking research yet in the ongoing debate regarding social security.