Beneficiaries of Social Security face restrictions on how much they can earn without incurring the earnings test (ET). In 2000, President Clinton eliminated the ET between ages 65 and 70. In this paper, I evaluate how this removal impacts the long-term finances of the Trust Fund. I find that...

Using data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals, this paper describes the shape of consumption profiles over the month for Social Security benefit recipients. Individuals with income mostly made up of Social Security benefits and who have some savings smooth consumption over...

In response to a crisis in Social Security financing two decades ago Congress implemented an increase in the Normal Retirement Age (NRA) of two months per year for cohorts born in 1938 and after. These cohorts began reaching retirement age in 2000. This paper studies the effects of these benefit...

Despite the expectations of economists that the euro changeover would have no effect on prices, I show that European consumers perceive the contrary. The data indicate that consumers based their perceptions about inflation on goods that are frequently purchased. I use this insight to develop and...

Beneficiaries of Social Security face restrictions on how much they can earn without incurring the earnings test (ET). In 2000, President Clinton eliminated the ET between ages 65 and 70. In this paper, I evaluate how this removal impacts the long-term finances of the Trust Fund. I find that...

We exploit exogenous variation in legal status following the January 2007 European Union enlargement to estimate its effect on immigrant crime. We difference out unobserved timevarying factors by 1) comparing recidivism rates of immigrants from the “new” and “candidate” member countries...

Is there a rational component in the decision to commit suicide? Economists have been trying to shed light on this question by studying whether suicide rates are related to contemporaneous conditions. This paper goes one step further: we test whether suicides are linked to forward-looking...

Despite its policy relevance there is little evidence on the joint evolution of gender differences in wages and workplace safety. Between 1994 and 2002 Italian micro-level data show a decline in both gaps, as well as an increased concentration of injuries among low-skilled female workers. The...

We exploit exogenous variation in legal status following the January 2007 European Union enlargement to estimate its effect on immigrant crime. We difference out unobserved time-varying factors by (i) comparing recidivism rates of immigrants from the "new" and "candidate" member countries; and...