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Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World

Micro-Estimation

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World represents the second stage of an ongoing research project studying the relationship between social security and labor. In the first volume, Jonathan Gruber and David A. Wise revealed enormous disincentives to continued work at older ages in developed countries. Provisions of many social security programs typically encourage retirement by reducing pay for work, inducing older employees to leave the labor force early and magnifying the financial burden caused by an aging population. At a certain age there is simply no financial benefit to continuing to work.

In this volume, the authors 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 volume shows an almost uniform correlation between levels of social security incentives and retirement behavior in each country. The estimates also show that the effect is strikingly uniform in countries with very different cultural histories, labor market institutions, and other social characteristics.

752 pages | 315 line drawings, 199 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2003

National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report

Economics and Business: Economics--General Theory and Principles, Economics--Government Finance

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction and Summary
Micro-Modeling of Retirment in Belgium
Income Security Programs and Retirement in Canada
The Impact of Incentives on Retirement in Demark
Estimating Models of Retirement Behavior on French Data
Micro-Modeling of Retirement Decisions in Germany
Micro-Modeling of Retirement Behavior in Italy
Social Security and Retirement in Japan: An Evaluation Using Micro-Data
Incentives and Exit Routes to Retirment in the Netherlands
Micro-Modeling of Retirement Behavior in Spain
Income Security Programs and Retirement in Sweden
Pension Incentives and the Pattern of Retirement in the United Kingdom
The Effect of Social Security on Retirement in the United States
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

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