Replication data for: The Welfare Cost of Perceived Policy Uncertainty: Evidence from Social Security

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Erzo F. P. Luttmer; Andrew A. Samwick

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
ReadMe.pdf application/pdf 30.2 KB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
ReadMe.txt text/plain 2.7 KB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
cps_00004.dat text/plain 7.5 MB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
cps_demographics.dta application/octet-stream 3.4 MB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
longevity1.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 192 KB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
openended_Sort01.csv text/plain 4 KB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
polrisk_clean.dta application/octet-stream 5.2 MB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
sspolicyrisk_rawdata_redacted.dta application/octet-stream 6.9 MB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
sspolrisk_analyze.do text/plain 60.5 KB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM
sspolrisk_analyze_2017_0905.log text/plain 455.9 KB 12/07/2019 02:37:AM

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Policy uncertainty reduces individual welfare when individuals have limited opportunities to mitigate or insure against the resulting consumption fluctuations. We field an original survey to measure the degree of perceived policy uncertainty in Social Security benefits and to estimate the impact of this uncertainty on individual welfare. Our central estimates show that on average individuals are willing to forgo 6 percent of the benefits they are supposed to get under current law to remove the policy uncertainty associated with their future Social Security benefits. This translates to a risk premium from policy uncertainty equal to 10 percent of expected benefits.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
      D81 Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
      H55 Social Security and Public Pensions


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Published Versions

V1 [2019-12-07]

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