Social Security Reform Research Articles

The effect of the social security on aggregate effective labor supply: the role of endogenous human capital and of selection effects

Abstract We quantify the importance of endogenous human capital and of selection effects for counterfactual analysis of social security (SS) reforms. The literature typically performs these analyses by using structural models featuring exogenous productivity profiles. However, this approach faces two issues: (i) the estimation of productivity is subject to selection bias, and (ii) productivity is endogenous to the SS reforms. In this paper, we estimate a quantitative overlapping generations model featuring endogenous human capital accumulation using US data. First, we eliminate the SS and find a large positive effect on aggregate effective labor supply ( ${+}10.31\%$ ). Next, we build variants of this model to quantify the two issues (i) and (ii). We find that the endogeneity issue (ii) is quantitatively more important than the selection bias issue (i).

The impacts of basic medical insurance for urban–rural residents on the perception of social equity in China

BackgroundBased on CSS 2019 data, this article analyzes the impact of Basic Medical Insurance for Urban and Rural Residents (BMIUR) on perceived social equity of residents.MethodUsing the CSS data of 2019, this article analyzes the influence of BMIUR on the perception of social equity of residents, on the basis of 2SLS model and mediating effect model.ResultsWe find that BMIUR has a significantly positive impact on the perception of social equity. That is to say, BMIUR can improve residents’ evaluation of social equity and further promote the level of social equity, which makes residents more happiness. The conclusion remains valid after using robustness test and propensity score matching to conduct counterfactual reasoning. The discussion of mechanism indicates that the influence of BMIUR is mediated by enhancing social capital, improving satisfaction of income distribution and reducing self-paid medical expenses. This study also finds that the influence of BMIUR is more obvious in the low-income, low-skilled and mid-west groups.ConclusionThe reform of the medical security system should be regarded as a foothold for improving people’s well-being and promoting social equity; Expanding people’s social capital through multiple channels and improving income distribution mechanisms; Strengthen vocational skills training, especially to provide more public services and social security for low-income groups, low-skilled groups, and groups in the western region of China, in order to improve the welfare and policy effectiveness of China's social security reform.

Re-interpreting basic values underlying social security law in times of climate change and ecological crisis

Shaping solidarity, guaranteeing basic subsistence, maintaining income and employment activation can be seen as basic values underlying social security law in many European welfare states. This article argues that the meaning of these values or concepts is determined by legitimating discourses within which they are interpreted. While so far Rawls's theory of justice and related egalitarian liberal philosophies have had a great impact on these discourses, the ecological crisis has given rise to new discourses which are inspired by neo-republican theory and green republicanism. Instead of legitimising a capitalist economy based on economic growth, these discourses promote a post-productive society that seeks to realise human flourishing and meaningful lives. The aim of this article is to contribute to the emerging debate on social security reform by explaining how neo-republican theory and green republicanism can fill social security law's basic values or concepts with meaning that is more in line with current ecological concerns. In contrast to previous contributions that have sought to rethink labour and social security law (‘social law’) in a way that is more compatible with our ecological and climate crisis, this article builds on Poststructuralist Discourse Theory to develop its argument.

Jurisdictional limitations on the configuration of the causal link between work and grievance

The present study aims to discuss a current and necessary topic in the field of law: jurisdiction and jurisdictional limits to establish the causal link between work and injury, which concerns both labor law and social security law. Although distinct. These sections of law have points of intersection that can generate doubts and conflicts in applying legal norms, compromising the legal security of relations between employees, employers, and the State. The social security reform, which changed important aspects of benefit rights, but did not modify the residual competence of ordinary justice to judge accidental actions, makes evident the need for unification and adequacy of the procedural means to resolve these demands. The study aims to clarify the constitutional rules that define the competence to process and judge matters related to accidents at work and occupational diseases of workers insured by the General Social Security System (RGPS), seeking to delimit the limits of this jurisdictional action.

Public Pensions and Private Savings

How does the provision of public pension benefits impact private savings? We answer this question in the context of a Danish reform that increased social security eligibility ages. Using administrative data and a regression discontinuity design, we identify the causal effects of the policy on savings throughout the financial portfolio. We find increases in contributions to personal and employer-sponsored retirement accounts when delayed benefit eligibility induces extended employment. We argue that inertia—the continuation of previous savings behaviors—is a key mechanism, and we highlight how firm default contribution rate policies can mediate savings responses to social security reform. (JEL G51, H55, J22, J26, J32)

The Effects of Increasing the Full Retirement Age from 66 to 67 on the Retirement Decision at the Early Retirement Age of 62

In the United States, the full retirement age increases in two-month increments each year until reaching 67 years of age in 2027 for individuals born from 1955 to 1960. The increase in the full retirement age is equivalent to a decline in the Social Security benefits for all new retirees. If the full retirement age is increased from 66 to 67 while the early retirement age remains at 62, then the monthly benefit reduction at age 62 would increase from 25% to 30%. Despite the reduction in Social Security benefits, a significant portion of newly retired workers claim their Social Security benefits as soon as they turn 62, which is the earliest age to claim the benefit. The Social Security Administration predicts that the reduction in Social Security benefits can encourage workers to delay their retirement and that the reduction can restore some financial balance to the Social Security system. Therefore, studying the effects of increasing the full retirement age from 66 to 67 on the retirement decision at 62 is essential for planning future social security reforms. This study conducts a Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression, using cross-sectional and time series data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2016 to 2021. The empirical results show that the probability of retirement for individuals at age 62 decreased from 2016 to 2021, indicating a trend of delaying retirement as their full retirement age rises. During the same period, the likelihood of men reporting being retired decreases by 35.56%, while for women, it drops by 16.79%. It implies that if male and female workers choose to exit the workforce solely based on the Social Security benefits, the increase in full retirement age appears to have a more significant impact on delaying retirement decisions for male workers than for female workers.

Social security reforms, capital accumulation, and welfare: A notional defined contribution system vs a modified PAYG system

Social security reforms, capital accumulation, and welfare: A notional defined contribution system vs a modified PAYG system

The overview of social security reforms between the 90's and 2000

The present study aims to study the successive and debatable reforms that the Brazilian Social Security system has undergone since its formatting in its current form and constitutionalization, concluding that despite the variety of speeches in favor and against the 2019 Social Security Reform, it is It is possible to observe that all political parties that assumed the Executive Branch of the Federal Government imposed reforms or changes to the social protection system. It will be analyzed whether the social protection system really needs the reforms introduced. To achieve the intended objective, the methodology applied is the theoretical review of Social State theories.

Talking about needs and rights in inter-agency meetings: interpretive contests in Swedish welfare provision

Inter-agency collaboration plays a central role in contemporary Swedish welfare provision and access to social security for citizens that are long-term unemployed and suffer from ill health. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s theorisation on the ‘politics of needs interpretation’, this article examines how needs and rights are interpreted and contested in inter-agency meetings involving local representatives from national, regional and municipal Swedish welfare agencies. Contextualised against social security reforms that put emphasis on the limitation of access and a ‘work-first’ approach, the article suggests that localised inter-agency meetings of this nature are arenas where perceived injustices are symbolically elaborated and challenged ‘from within’ welfare organisations. Although discourses emphasising self-sufficiency and the importance of work tend to act as depoliticising and normalising, the way they are implemented in practice is not passively accepted by front-line professionals, who question interpretive justifications, as well as harmful consequences for individuals.

Widening Health Gap in the US Labor Force Participation at Older Ages

Abstract Using microdata from the CPS and the HRS, we document changes in labor force participation at older ages in the USA since the mid-1990s. Our main finding is that the over two-decade increase in participation is solely driven by individuals in good health, and does not differ across either educational or occupational groups. This phenomenon may importantly affect the results of social security reforms aiming at raising the mandatory retirement age and may exacerbate the health gap in lifetime earnings. (JEL codes: J22 and I14)

Austeridade e financeirização: a construção do discurso reformista no campo previdenciário brasileiro

Abstract This article seeks to outline a panorama in the construction of reformist discourses in the Brazilian social security field after the 1988 Federal Constitution, unveiling the ideologies present in such discourses. The study conducted an analysis of the explanatory statements that justify constitutional amendment proposals submitted to the Brazilian parliament. The theoretical and methodological method was critical discourse analysis (CDA), seeking to answer to what extent the conceptions of austerity and financialization permeate the process of construction of the discourses that justify the proposition of the Brazilian social security reforms. The results indicate that capitalist ideologies guided by the logic of financialization and austerity appear in the construction of the reformist discourses, which demonstrates their influence on the authors and suggests the affiliation of the reforms to these hegemonic conceptions. It is concluded that CDA is an important tool to understand the processes that involve public policies, from its formulation to its evaluation.

The Italian gender gap in pensions: A cohort of birth approach

Introduction: The text discusses the gender pension gap in rich countries, focusing specifically on Italy. The paper delves into the evolution of this gap across different generations, analyzing social security reforms and their impact on retirement incomes. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding these disparities for designing effective pension systems that address gender inequalities and ensure well-being in retirement.Objective: The aim of the article is to investigate the gender pension gap, specifically in the context of Italy, by analyzing the factors contributing to this disparity, including late entry into the job market, wage gaps, and caregiving responsibilities. The study focuses on understanding the impact of social security reforms and the pension system on these gender inequalities, aiming to provide insights for the design of equitable pension systems.Materials and methods: The article utilized administrative data from the Italian National Institute for Social Security (INPS) covering pension payments from 1995 to 2022. The study employed a cohort perspective, analyzing the evolution of the gender pension gap across generations and examining the impact of social security reforms and labor market arrangements.Results: The main conclusion of the study indicates that while the absolute gender disparity in mean retirement income has increased across cohorts of Italian retirees born between 1930 and 1954, the relative gender gap, when considering men's average pension, has decreased over time. Additionally, the impact of survivor's benefits has been significant in reducing the gender disparity in pensions, particularly in the later stages of life. Furthermore, the study found that the impact of social security reforms in Italy has been limited, primarily affecting the youngest cohorts, with most retirees still relying on the dominant defined benefit component for their pensions.

Adequate and sustainable social security for all: responses in a new context

Introduction: Social security in old age is one of the fundamental human rights. The current global tendency in population aging forces one to search for new, innovative solutions that will ensure that future pension schemes will be tailored to the generational needs and will fulfill the conditions to ensure a decent life for the elderly.Objective: The aim of this paper is to analyze the context of current efforts to ensure adequate pension scheme levels and to summarize possible solutions of this problem.Materials and methods: The author describes the demographic situation and social security in different areas of the world, focusing on a case study and analyzing existing data from international opinions.Results: Social security reforms must take full account of how social security schemes can support people particularly at risk in poverty in their working lives. It’s essential for social security to be flexible and adaptable to current life cycle patterns and individual needs.

How Social Security Reform Affects Retirement and Pension Claiming

A reform increasing the full retirement age (FRA) by one year leads to larger than expected delays in pension claiming and retirement, while making late claiming more lucrative leads to a smaller than expected delay in pension claiming. Survey evidence shows people view the FRA as the “normal” retirement age and prefer to couple pension claiming and retirement decisions together, even though these two decisions are not coupled through social security provisions. Two mechanisms are at work: reference dependence with loss aversion in pension claiming, and spillovers from pension claiming on retirement choices. The FRA increase leads to large government savings. (JEL H55, J26)

The renaissance of ordoliberalism in the 1970s and 1980s*

AbstractThe economic tradition of ordoliberalism, understood as the theoretical and policy ideas of the Freiburg School, emerged in 1930s and 1940s Germany. In the years thereafter, it was quickly superseded by Keynesianism and other theories imported from the English-speaking world. The crisis in Keynesian economics in the mid-1970s led to what has been described as a “renaissance of ordoliberal reasoning” (Gebhard Kirchgässner) during the late 1970s and the 1980s. The present paper describes this development in detail and shows how it affected the academic discourse and, more indirectly, policymaking. In academic economics, ordoliberal concepts were used to inform debates about pressing issues of the day such as unemployment, social security reform, competition policy, the provision of public goods, and European integration. There was, however, no consensus on the methodological question of whether ordoliberalism could be fully integrated into international research programs such as the new institutional economics or constitutional economics. The paper argues that the renaissance of ordoliberalism failed to have a lasting impact on German academic economics and discusses possible implications of this finding for the future of the ordoliberal research agenda.

Understanding the Relationship Between Decreases in Social Security Benefits and Intergenerational Inequalities in Mental Health.

It is well-established that mental health follows similar patterns across generations. However, little is known how structural factors, such as those related to social security reforms, may impact this relationship. Our aim was to quantify the strength of association in mental health between parents and their adolescent children, and to explore how much of this correlation is explained by decreases in benefits. We used data from U.K. Household Longitudinal Study (2009-2019) from which we matched youth data to their parents, and split the sample into single- and dual-parent households. To estimate the intergenerational correlations, we estimated a series of unit- and rank-based regression models of standardized and time-averaged mental health measures for adolescents and their parents. Our findings suggest that there are statistically significant intergenerational associations in mental health between parents and children for both single- and dual-parent households, with the relationship being stronger for single-mother households. Benefit losses explain a small proportion of this association, for both single-mother and dual-parent households. Nevertheless, they are negatively associated with the mental health of adolescents in dual-parent households-independently of both adolescent and parental characteristics. Such negative effects should be considered when designing and evaluating future social security benefit policies.

“Fake News” and Journalistic Authority in Newspaper Editorials

ABSTRACT The article investigates how newspaper editorials address the “fake news” phenomenon concerning (1) the damages that mis- and disinformation pose to society and journalism; (2) the roles news organizations claim for themselves; (3) the communication agents mentioned; and (4) how media companies defend the field. We use content analysis to study 375 editorials published between 2017 and 2020 in three Brazilian quality-papers. Brazil is a relevant case since its media system and political institutions differ from those in the United States and Western Europe, leading us to understand metajournalistic discourses not necessarily seen in more stable environments. The results indicate that key political events (e.g., social security reform and presidential elections) became occasions for media organizations to publish more editorials discussing “fake news.” Harming democracy was the main problem caused by mis- and disinformation. The newspapers regularly identified themselves as victims of attacks from political authorities. The editorial texts reinforced journalism's expertise in crafting and providing credible information, but, at the same time, such newspapers avoided responding to external criticisms. More interestingly, the outlets used terms associated with mis- and disinformation to attack rival groups. Lastly, our codebook provides an original contribution to the field as it considers a wide range of variables, encouraging comparative studies.

Reconciling welfare policy and sustainability transition – A case study of the Finnish welfare state

AbstractThe paper investigates the capacity of welfare policies to support sustainability transitions. Welfare policy involves the discussion on public and private responsibilities and choices in public spending. The Finnish government's decision to turn Finland into a carbon neutral welfare society by 2035 is interpreted as a possible sustainability transition. The government launched a social security reform at the same time as the carbon neutrality target was announced. It was assumed that one of the major reforms would be utilised to achieve the carbon neutrality target. The research material consists of administrative, policy and political documents. The chosen documents describe how the issues are presented in policymaking. The qualitative analyses focused on the frames. It was examined how the current problems of the system were framed because the frames guide the possible solutions. According to our analysis, the Finnish government showed strong political will for sustainability transition. However, one of its major reforms was not utilised to create policies to support the shift towards a carbon neutral welfare society. The political will did not convert into action on the social security reform. The main reason seems to be related to the strongly guiding legislative frame in the reform. The legislative frame impacted on the utilised knowledge, which focused solely on the system level of social security. It could have been useful to utilise research knowledge about large‐scale reforms and how to formulate them cross‐sectionally.

Social Security Reform and the Untapped Potential of Human Rights Law

Abstract The courts have done little to ameliorate the harsh ‘austerity’ reforms pursued by the government since 2010, adopting a highly deferential approach towards human rights claims in the social security context. This article identifies the two key moves to achieve this result: adopting the manifestly without reasonable foundation standard of justification and treating indirect discrimination claims on suspect grounds as not ‘real’ discrimination claims. It shows nonetheless the untapped potential of Convention rights, since even within this framework strong arguments were still available to the courts, based on the functioning of the social security system, which should have rendered two of the harshest reforms, the two-child limit and especially the benefit cap, Convention incompatible. The cap, which limits the subsistence benefits of unemployed families, is justified as a work-incentive policy, yet through Universal Credit the state also independently assesses families affected by the cap as doing all that they reasonably can to find work.

Parading Utopia on the road to nowhere? An introduction to the special issue on the policy impact of the European basic income experiments

Basic income experiments have emerged across Europe in recent years, but until now analysis has focused on their design and the scientific interpretation of their results, rather than the subsequent policy impact of these projects. This special issue addresses this gap. The papers all focus on whether and how the European basic income experiments have made an observable impact on the basic income debate and social security reform more generally. The special issue includes country case studies of the three countries in Europe that have completed their experiments, Finland, the Netherlands and Spain, as well as a case study of Scotland, where a feasibility study did not result in a field experiment, and of Ireland, which is in the process of planning at least one experiment. Two papers then also examine the effect of these experiments on the debate at EU level and outside Europe, in Australia. The special issue provides a novel contribution that advances both the scholarly and policy debates surrounding basic income at a time when COVID-19 appears to have increased interest in the policy and equally seems to have propelled the idea of experimenting with basic income even further into the mainstream.