Copyright (c) 2009 RAND Corporation All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/rand Recent documents in RAND Health -- Bing Center for Health Economics en-us Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:12:03 PST 3600 http://works.bepress.com/kathleen_mullen/4 http://works.bepress.com/kathleen_mullen/4 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:39:17 PDT We separately identify the income and price elasticities in individuals’retirement decisions. We develop a dynamic model of retirement decisions that establishes a precise relationship between a structural parameter and these elasticities. Next, we estimate these elasticities in a proportional hazard specification that is independent of any assumptions of the dynamic model. The elasticities are identified and estimated using policy variation from pension reforms in Austria and administrative data from the Austrian Social Security Database. We then use these elasticities to estimate the dynamic model and examine the labor supply and welfare consequences of potential social security reforms. Dayanand Manoli Retirement http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/13 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/13 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:06:41 PDT Formerly Work at Older Ages: The Shape of Change Nicole Maestas Retirement Economics Economics of Aging http://works.bepress.com/john_romley/8 http://works.bepress.com/john_romley/8 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:35:04 PDT John Romley Other health care http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/12 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/12 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:32:08 PST Nicole Maestas Retirement Economics http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/11 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/11 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:35:20 PST About one-third of elderly Americans age 65 and older supplements their Medicare health insurance in a private insurance market known as the "Medigap" market. Prices for Medigap policies vary widely, despite the fact that regulations enacted in 1992 standardized all Medigap policies, thereby creating a market with homogenous insurance products. Economic theory suggests that consumer search costs can lead to a nondegenerate price distribution within a market for otherwise homogenous goods. Using a structural model of equilibrium search costs first posed by Carlson and McAfee (1983), we find that nearly all consumers face search costs high enough to prevent them from searching until they find the lowest priced Medigap policy. We estimate average search costs to be $249, substantially higher than has been found in other markets, but plausible given the complex nature of the Medigap market and its elderly consumer population. The implied aggregate welfare loss is approximately $798 million or $484 per policyholder. Nicole Maestas http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/10 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/10 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:14:53 PST Julie Zissimopoulos Retirement Economics http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/9 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/9 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:08:40 PST Many have suggested we adopt policies that explicitly encourage the elderly to work. Behind this suggestion is the assumption that if an older person desires a job, one will be found; however, little is known about the extent to which this is true, and in the Health and Retirement Study, many more respondents say they expect to work after retirement than actually undertake work. This raises an important question: To what extent can the elderly readily find suitable jobs? In the context of a theoretical job search model, we examine the decision to search for a job and the probability of transitioning to employment using a large sample of non-workers from the Health and Retirement Study. The effects of both supply-side factors (individual characteristics) and demand-side factors (local labor market conditions) are estimated with a set of reduced form econometric models. We find employment transition rates are relatively low for older searchers: only half of older searchers successfully attain jobs. We examine various explanations for this result, including variation in search intensity, reservation wages, and the possibility of intervening health shocks. We conclude that about 13% of older job searchers becomes a discouraged worker in the sense of being willing to work at the prevailing wage, but unable to find a job. Nicole Maestas http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/8 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/8 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:01:09 PST Nicole Maestas Retirement Economics http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/7 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/7 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:32:44 PST Dana P. Goldman http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/6 http://works.bepress.com/nicole_maestas/6 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:28:55 PST This forthcoming paper analyzes a puzzling aspect of retirement behavior known as "unretirement." Nearly 50 percent of retirees follow a nontraditional retirement path that involves partial retirement or unretirement, and at least 26 percent of retirees later unretire. I explore two possible explanations: 1) unretirement transitions result from failures in planning or financial shocks; and 2) unretirement transitions are anticipated prior to retirement, reflecting a more complex retirement process. I show that unretirement was anticipated for the vast majority of those returning to work, and is not a result of financial shocks, poor planning or low wealth accumulation. Nicole Maestas Retirement Economics