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Estimating Earnings Adjustment Frictions: Method and Evidence from the Social Security Earnings Test

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  • Alexander M. Gelber
  • Damon Jones
  • Daniel W. Sacks

Abstract

We introduce a method for estimating the cost of adjusting earnings, as well as the earnings elasticity. Our method uses information on bunching in the earnings distribution at convex budget set kinks before and after policy-induced changes in the magnitude of the kinks: the larger is the adjustment cost, the smaller is the absolute change in bunching from before to after the policy change. In the context of the Social Security Earnings Test, our results demonstrate that the short-run impact of changes in the effective marginal tax rate can be substantially attenuated.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander M. Gelber & Damon Jones & Daniel W. Sacks, 2013. "Estimating Earnings Adjustment Frictions: Method and Evidence from the Social Security Earnings Test," NBER Working Papers 19491, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19491
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    Cited by:

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    3. Alpert, Abby & Powell, David, 2014. "Estimating Intensive and Extensive Tax Responsiveness: Do Older Workers Respond to Income Taxes?," Working Papers 987-1, RAND Corporation.
    4. Abby Alpert & David Powell, 2014. "Estimating Intensive and Extensive Tax Responsiveness Do Older Workers Respond to Income Taxes?," Working Papers WR-987-1, RAND Corporation.
    5. Anthony A. DeFusco & Andrew Paciorek, 2017. "The Interest Rate Elasticity of Mortgage Demand: Evidence from Bunching at the Conforming Loan Limit," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 210-240, February.
    6. Johannes Hagen, 2018. "The effects of increasing the normal retirement age on health care utilization and mortality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 193-234, January.
    7. Alexander Gelber & Timothy J. Moore & Alexander Strand, 2017. "The Effect of Disability Insurance Payments on Beneficiaries' Earnings," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 229-261, August.
    8. Jeffrey Clemens & Michael Wither, 2024. "When is tinkering with safety net programs harmful to beneficiaries?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 91(1), pages 213-256, July.
    9. Sören Blomquist & Whitney K. Newey & Anil Kumar & Che-Yuan Liang, 2021. "On Bunching and Identification of the Taxable Income Elasticity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(8), pages 2320-2343.
    10. Philippe Aghion & Maxime Gravoueille & Matthieu Lequien & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2017. "Tax Simplicity or Simplicity of Evasion? Evidence from Self-Employment Taxes in France," NBER Working Papers 24049, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Blundell, R. & French, E. & Tetlow, G., 2016. "Retirement Incentives and Labor Supply," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 457-566, Elsevier.
    12. Fitzpatrick, Maria D., 2019. "Pension reform and return-to-work policies," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 500-514, October.
    13. Philip Armour & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2016. "The Effect of Social Security Information on the Labor Supply and Savings of Older Americans," Working Papers wp361, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    14. Soren Blomquist & Whitney K. Newey, 2017. "The bunching estimator cannot identify the taxable income elasticity," CeMMAP working papers 40/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    15. Marx, Benjamin M., 2018. "Dynamic Bunching Estimation with Panel Data," MPRA Paper 88647, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. David Powell, 2015. "Do Payroll Taxes in the United States Create Bunching at Kink Points?," Working Papers wp327, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    17. Zaresani, Arezou, 2020. "Adjustment cost and incentives to work: Evidence from a disability insurance program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    18. Jarkko Harju & Tuomas Matikka & Timo Rauhanen, 2016. "The Effects of Size-Based Regulation on Small Firms: Evidence from VAT Threshold," CESifo Working Paper Series 6115, CESifo.
    19. Zhiyang Jia & Trine E. Vattø, 2016. "The path of labor supply adjustment. Sources of lagged responses to tax-benefit reforms," Discussion Papers 854, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    20. Weber, Andrea & Manoli, Dayanand, 2016. "The Effects of Increasing the Early Retirement Age on Employment of Older Workers," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145549, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    21. Daniel K. Fetter & Lee M. Lockwood, 2018. "Government Old-Age Support and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Old Age Assistance Program," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(8), pages 2174-2211, August.
    22. Ma, Chao, 2020. "Per-customer quantity limit and price discrimination: Evidence from the U.S. residential mortgage market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    23. Tazhitdinova, Alisa, 2015. "Adjust Me if I Can’t: The Effect of Firm Incentives on Labor Supply Responses to Taxes," MPRA Paper 81611, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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