Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Retirement Policy Micro-Simulation

(Poverty and Income Policy)

This session brings together leading scholars who study implications of policy reforms on retirement policy, post-retirement well-being and program solvency using micro-simulation methods. Each of the papers in this session investigate either proposed changes to Social Security program benefits or the impacts of possible changes in individual behavior on post-retirement well-being and program solvency.  A key issue that motivates each analysis is the increased longevity of Americans and that it has expanded differentially across different demographic groups.  The papers examine issues ranging from the potential benefits of encouraging delayed claiming ages for Old Age benefits from the Social Security Administration to alterations in the calculation of benefits to offset changes across cohorts in longevity.  Micro-Simulation methods are used in all of the papers due to the need to assess the impacts of policies in the future once individuals are old enough to claim benefits.  Micro-simulation also allows the complex rule structures associated with retirement benefits to be accurately depicted within the models.  A variety of micro-simulation models developed within government agencies and leading research centers are used in the research projects.  This information is the type of input policy makers consider in their evaluation of policy changes related to retirement benefits.