How Representative are Representative Workers? An Assessment of the Hypothetical Workers Commonly Used in Social Security Studies
An understanding of the financial and distributional consequences of Social Security reform requires knowledge about the actual life circumstances of participants, including the level and pattern of their lifetime earnings and when they retire. Some analyses of Social Security reform make simplifying assumptions about these characteristics by using “hypothetical workers” with set career paths. We seek to develop greater understanding about actual lifetime earnings patterns to compare with hypothetical workers and find discrepancies which lead typical hypothetical workers to produce a more favorable impression for defined-contribution pension reforms. We suggest modifications to make a more suitable hypothetical worker.
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| Length: | |
| Date of creation: | Jun 2009 |
| Publication status: | Published in Journal of Income Distribution 2.18(2009): pp. 92-117 |
| Handle: | RePEc:pra:mprapa:19036 |
| Contact details of provider: | Postal: Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany Phone: +49-(0)89-2180-2459 Fax: +49-(0)89-2180-992459 Web page: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de More information through EDIRC
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References listed on IDEAS
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- Edward Whitehouse, 2007.
"Pensions Panorama : Retirement-Income Systems in 53 Countries,"
World Bank Publications,
The World Bank, number 7177, August.
- Whitehouse, Edward, 2007. "Pensions panorama: retirement-income systems in 53 countries," MPRA Paper 14797, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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- Thomas L. Hungerford, 2003. "Do Workers with Low Lifetime Earnings Really Have Low Earnings Every Year?: Implications for Social Security Reform," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_389, Levy Economics Institute.
- Steven Caldwell & Melissa Favreault & Alla Gantman & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Thomas Johnson & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1999. "Social Security's Treatment of Postwar Americans," NBER Chapters,in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 13, pages 109-148 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Steven Caldwell & Melissa Favreault & Alla Gantman & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Thomas Johnson, 1998. "Social Security's Treatment of Postwar Americans," NBER Working Papers 6603, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Julia Lynn Coronado & Don Fullerton & Thomas Glass, 1999. "Distributional Impacts of Proposed Changes to the Social Security System," NBER Chapters,in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 13, pages 149-186 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Julia Lynn Coronado & Don Fullerton & Thomas Glass, 1999. "Distributional Impacts of Proposed Changes to the Social Security System," NBER Working Papers 6989, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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