People who delay claiming Social Security receive higher lifelong benefits upon retirement. We survey individuals on their willingness to delay claiming later, if they could receive a lump sum in lieu of a higher annuity payment. Using a moment-matching approach, we calibrate a lifecycle model...

Many Americans claim Social Security benefits early, though this leaves them with lower benefits throughout retirement. We build a lifecycle model that closely tracks claiming patterns under current rules, and we use it to predict claiming delays if, by delaying benefits, people received a lump...

The relationship between retirement plan type and job mobility is more complex than typically considered. While differences in plan features and benefit structure may directly affect employees' mobility decisions (“incentive effect”), the type of plan offered may also affect the types of...

Defaults have been shown to have a powerful effect on retirement saving behavior yet there is limited research on who is most affected by defaults and whether this varies based on features of the choice environment. Using administrative data on employer-sponsored retirement accounts linked to...

This paper analyses a model in which employees are biased in their perception of their optimal contribution rates or asset allocations in defined contribution pension plans. The optimal default is characterised as a function of the parameters. It is shown that, for some values of the parameters,...

What is the optimal default contribution rate or default asset allocation in pension plans? Could active decision (i.e., not setting a default and forcing employees to make a decision) be optimal? These questions are studied in a model in which each employee is biased regarding her optimal...

Der demografische Wandel wird die umlagefinanzierte gesetzliche Rentenversicherung in den kommenden Jahrzehnten stark belasten. Bisherige Rentenreformen zielten daher darauf ab, durch steuerliche Förderung die zusätzliche kapitalgedeckte Altersvorsorge zu stärken. Diese Möglichkeit wird aber...

In der deutschen Debatte zur Rentenpolitik wird in letzter Zeit immer wieder auf das Beispiel Österreich verwiesen. Das hohe österreichische Leistungsniveau provoziert Nachfragen, auch nach der Nachhaltigkeit seiner Finanzierung, die teils infrage gestellt wird. In diesem Beitrag werden nach...

Bei der Diskussion über notwendige Maßnahmen zur Bewältigung des demografischen Wandels wird die zukünftige Entwicklung des Arbeitsmarkts oft ignoriert, obwohl Analysen ein enormes ungenutztes Beschäftigungspotenzial vor allem bei Frauen, älteren Menschen und Migranten aufzeigen....

The Icelandic labor market is characterized by high union density and the Icelanders’ willingness to work, as labor force participation is high, the work week long, and people retire late. The resilience and flexibility of the Icelandic labor market was put to the test in the Great Recession...