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Social Security with Uninsurable Income Risk and Endogenous Borrowing Constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Juan A. Rojas

    (Banco de Espana)

  • Carlos Urrutia

    (ITAM)

Abstract

We study the effects of a social security reform in a large overlapping generations model where markets are incomplete and households face uninsurable idiosyncratic income shocks. We depart from the previous literature by assuming that, because of lack of commitment in the credit market, the borrowing constraint in the unique asset is endogenously determined by individuals' incentives to default on previous debts. In our model, after the reform the incentives to default are lower and consequently households face more relaxed borrowing limits, leading to an increase in debt and a reduction in the size of precautionary savings. However, the quantitative impact of this mechanism on stationary aggregate savings is small. Computing the transitional dynamics for the basic model following the social security reform we obtain important welfare gains for workers at the bottom of the income distribution (equivalent to 1.3% of consumption each period) associated to the relaxation of the endogenous borrowing constraints, which are missed in an environment with fixed borrowing limits. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Juan A. Rojas & Carlos Urrutia, 2008. "Social Security with Uninsurable Income Risk and Endogenous Borrowing Constraints," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(1), pages 83-103, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:05-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2007.04.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Park, Hyeon, 2023. "Bounded rationality and optimal retirement age," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Pedro Cavalcanti Ferreira & Marcelo Rodrigues dos Santos, 2013. "The Effect of Social Security, Health, Demography and Technology on Retirement," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(2), pages 350-370, April.
    3. Ábrahám, Árpád & Cárceles-Poveda, Eva, 2010. "Endogenous trading constraints with incomplete asset markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 974-1004, May.
    4. Kumru, Cagri S. & Thanopoulos, Athanasios C., 2011. "Social security reform with self-control preferences," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 886-899, August.
    5. Röhrs, Sigrid & Winter, Christoph, 2015. "Public versus private provision of liquidity: Is there a trade-off?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 314-339.
    6. Cagri Seda Kumru & Athanasios C. Thanopoulos, 2009. "Social Security Reform and Temptation," CESifo Working Paper Series 2778, CESifo.
    7. Hans Fehr & Christian Habermann & Fabian Kindermann, 2008. "Social Security with Rational and Hyperbolic Consumers," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 884-903, October.
    8. Yang, Fang, 2013. "Social security reform with impure intergenerational altruism," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 52-67.
    9. Andolfatto, David & Gervais, Martin, 2008. "Endogenous debt constraints in a life-cycle model with an application to social security," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 3745-3759, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social security; Incomplete markets; Endogenous borrowing constraints; Heterogeneous agents; Equilibrium default;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D52 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Incomplete Markets
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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