The Employment Effects of the Social Security Earnings Test

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Alexander Gelber, UCSD; Damon Jones, University of Chicago; Daniel Sacks, Indiana University; Jae Song, Social Security Administration

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
replication.zip application/zip 410.8 MB 02/03/2020 04:31:AM

Project Citation: 

Gelber, Alexander, Jones, Damon, Sacks, Daniel, and Song, Jae. The Employment Effects of the Social Security Earnings Test . Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-02-03. https://doi.org/10.3886/E117502V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary We investigate the impact of the Social Security Annual Earnings Test (AET) on the employment decisions of older Americans. The AET reduces Social Security benefits by one dollar for every two dollars earned above the exempt amount. Using a differences-in-differences design, we find that the employment rate of those predicted to become subject to the AET decreases substantially relative to those not predicted to become subject to it. The point estimates suggest that the AET reduces the employment rate of Americans aged 63-64 by at least 1.2 percentage points.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources U.S. Social Security Administration (RRC08098400-09)



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