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2010 University of Michigan Retirement Research Center Conference Papers

'Retirement, Planning, and Social Security in Interesting Times.

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Research Halted at University Retirement Centers After Social Security Funding Cuts

"[The] University of Michigan ... has not received any additional funding following the Social Security Administration's February cuts ... [T]he New York Retirement and Disability Research Center, based at Baruch College in partnership with Hunter College and The New School, received a termination notice from the Social Security Administration on February 20, 2025 ... The center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison closed its doors earlier this month, as did the center operated by the National Bureau of Economic Research Retirement and Disability Research Center.... Though Boston College's Center for Retirement Research was also affected by the cuts ... the university's research center has received additional funding and remains in operation. "  MORE >>

Research Details: Efficiency Gains and Social Security Reform

Excerpt: This project has two parts. First, it proposes to generalize existing retirement models to include health and employer constraints as well as worker choice. Second, it proposes to present and analyze a Social Security reform designed to promote efficiency.

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Research Project: The Joint Decision Making of Married Couples and the Social Security Pension System

Excerpt: The current OASI program redistributes resources from high-wage workers to low-wage workers, and from two-earner couples to one-earner couples. However, previous dynamic general equilibrium analyses of Social Security mostly assume 'unisex' individuals, to alleviate complexities in modeling, and they do not consider the redistribution between one-earner and two-earner households. In this project, we extend a standard general equilibrium OLG model with heterogeneous agents, quantitatively analyze the effect of spousal and survivor benefits on the labor supply of married couples, and examine whether the government can improve economic efficiency and social welfare. [UM10-23]  MORE >>

Research Project: The Social Security Early Retirement Benefit as Safety Net (PDF)

Excerpt: This project will use the Health and Retirement Study to examine the health and economic status of those who collect Social Security early retirement benefits and will predict their behavioral reaction to an increase in the Early Entitlement Age or a change in the Full Retirement Age that reduces the value of the early retirement benefit. We would use a propensity score reweighting method to estimate who uses early retirement benefits as a safety net against deteriorating health and who might be induced to apply for disability benefits or retire without income replacement if the generosity or availability of early retirement benefits were reduced. [UM10-02]  MORE >>

University of Michigan Retirement Payments Dwarf Private-Sector Plans

The University of Michigan contributed $217.9 million to its employees' retirement plans in 2010. The school's retirement plan matches up to 10 percent of employee pay.  MORE >>

Research Project Abstract: Work & Retirement Choices of Men: Impact of Chile's Social Security Rules

Excerpt: As the labor force ages it becomes increasingly important to analyze whether people will work longer if they live longer, and how to encourage this behavior. This will increase the productive capacity of the economy and improve the finances of social security systems.

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Research Project Abstract: Experimental Analysis of Delayed Social Security Claiming

Excerpt: This project aims to design, field, and analyze the results of a survey instrument that will increase our understanding of Social Security claiming behavior and will provide information about how the perceived rewards from delayed claiming might be altered.

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Michigan Governor Proposes Universal FMLA

"As outlined in the proposed legislation, the measure would: [1] Cover companies with 50 or more employees. [2] Permit all qualified workers to take up to 15 weeks of paid intermittent from work to care for themselves or their families. [3] Provide up to 65 percent of a worker's pay. [4] Be funded by a payroll tax on employers."

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Self-Insurance Institute of America Appeals Michigan Case Allowing State Tax on Health Plan Claims Even When ERISA Applies

"The Self-Insurance Institute of America Inc. is appealing a federal court ruling that said [ERISA] did not pre-empt a 2011 Michigan law imposing a 1% tax on paid health care claims.... U.S. District Court Judge Abele Cook of the Eastern District Court of Michigan disagreed. The Michigan law 'does not mandate any particular benefit structure or bind administrators to certain benefit structures,' he wrote[.]"  MORE >>

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Launches 1st U.S. Pension Institute

Excerpt: The institute plans to support retirement plan and employee benefits providers through education, training, credentialing, research and technical support.

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Achieving Universal Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: Addressing Market Failures or Providing a Social Floor?

"[I]ncremental insurance expansions focused on addressing market failures will propagate inefficiencies and are not likely to facilitate active policy decisions that align with societal coverage goals. By instead defining a basic bundle of services that is publicly financed for all, while allowing individuals to purchase additional coverage, policymakers could both expand coverage and maintain incentives for innovation, fostering universal access to innovative care in an affordable system."

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Self-Insurance Institute of America Challenges Michigan Health Care Tax

The tax, which is being used to help fund the state's Medicaid program, would be paid by insurers offering fully insured plans and by third-party claims administrators and stop-loss insurers in the case of self-funded plans. The assessment would be paid quarterly starting April 15, 2012.  MORE >>

Debate over Public Pensions Research by Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

A Dec. 13 SIEPR report ... titled 'Pension Math: How California's Retirement Spending is Squeezing the State Budget,' examined the state of three of California's public employee pension systems: [CalPERS]), [CalSTRS] and the University of California Retirement Plan .... The study concluded that debt on public pensions was larger than the state is currently reporting .... In a joint email to The Daily, SIEPR Director John Shoven and Deputy Director Greg Rosston reaffirmed that SIEPR's research is not influenced by its corporate support[.]  MORE >>

A Dynamic Model of Retirement and Social Security Reform Expectations (PDF)

38 pages. Excerpt: Researchers ... have rarely modeled the uncertainty over Social Security reform and benefit levels, and how they affect claiming behavior and retirement. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which these perceptions of future cuts might explain the puzzle of earlier take-up despite bigger penalties to doing so in the presence of increasing longevity.  MORE >>

Research Details: Designing Optimal Pension Payouts Using Life Annuities and Phased Withdrawals (PDF)

Excerpt: This research project will evaluate the key risk and return trade-offs of alternative ways of handling the payout phase of a defined contribution or Social Security personal account. This project will compare these outcomes for a life annuity versus a phased withdrawal.  MORE >>

Mutual Funds and Institutional Investments: What is the Most Efficient Way to Set Up Individual Accounts in a Social Security System?

A Working Paper that is available for downloading for $5 from the National Bureau of Economic Research.  MORE >>

Social Security Privatization with Income-Mortality Correlation (PDF)

43 pages. Excerpt: It has been known for some time that shutting down ('privatizing') a pay-as-you-go social security system would simply reallocate resources between generations when all economic variables are deterministic and labor supply is inelastic.  MORE >>

WP: Consumption, Retirement, & Social Security: Evaluating Reform Efficiency with a Life-Cycle Model (PDF)

44 pages. Excerpt: This paper analyzes the effect of a potential reform to the Social Security system on individuals' retirement and consumption choices.  MORE >>

Probabilistic Thinking and Early Social Security Claiming (PDF)

23 pages. Excerpt: This study analyzes the extent to which an individual's survival expectations influence his or her decision to claim social security benefits at an early age.  MORE >>