zation of finite lives, imperfect capital markets, a Government monopoly in the production of bond "liquidity services," and uncertainty about future tax obligations. It is shown within the context of an overlapping-generations model that finite lives will not be relevant to the capitalization of future tax liabilities so long as current generations are connected to future generations by a chain of operative intergenerational transfers. The author notes applications of this result to social security and to other types of intergenerational transfer schemes. jnl-mod. 0203 Barro, Robert J. The Impact of Social Security on Private Savings: Evidence from the U.S. Time Series. (AEI Studies in Social Security and University of Rochester, In the first of a series of studies of the effect of social security on saving and capital formation, the author contends that social security does not depress private saving. However, it is asserted that changes in social security benefits and taxes may affect the bequests and other transfers that parents make to their children and the assistance aged parents receive from the children. In a response by Martin Feldstein, new estimates of the effect of social security on saving based on a longitudinal sample and on recent national income statistics are presented. Feldstein estimates that in 1978 social security will reduce personal saving by approximately $82 billion or 90 percent of current saving. jnl-mod. 0204 Barro, Robert J. Reply to Feldstein and Buchanan. University of Rochester, A reply to criticism of the author's arguments regarding Government debt, social security, and net wealth is presented. It is argued that Government debt and social security will not add to net wealth in an economy with operative intergenerational transfers. of the central elements of the current system and incorporates improvements that will secure many of the advantages of an actuarially based insurance program. The restructured program would include: (1) vesting of an individual's rights to benefits based on earnings; (2) provisions for opting out of social security in favor of a private program; and (3) replacement of payroll taxes by compulsory purchases of social insurance bonds which have a potential yield equal to the rate of the growth in the gross national product. Policy steps and related problems are discussed. aab-mod. 0210 Burkhauser, Richard V.; Turner, John A. The Effects of Pension Policy Across (Discussion Paper No. 523-78) Madison, Institute for Research on Poverty, Effects of pension policy under private pensions and social security on life cycle behavior, particularly laborsupply decisions, are examined. The impact of the pension system on laborsupply decisions of older men and labor supply of younger men is assessed, and other life cycle responses to the pension system are described. aab-mod. 0211 Burkhauser, Richard V.; Turner, John A. A Time Series Analysis on Social Security and its Effect on the Market Work of Men at Younger Ages. (Institute for Research on Poverty, Dis- Institute for Research on Poverty, Using a life cycle asset maximization approach to social security acceptance, it is shown that the earnings test is not a sufficient cause for the distortion of the labor/leisure choice during the time the test is in effect or over the life cycle. Time series analysis is used to test the net importance of the substitution and wealth effects associated with social security on the market work of younger men, and it is shown programs are analyzed in four studies. Topics covered include international social security comparisons, benefits under the American social security system, unemployment compensation in Massachusetts, U.S. public assistance expenditures, and an unemployment case study involving the Mack Truck Company. pro-gen. 0214 Ehrenberg, Ronald G. Retirement Policies, Employment, and Unemployment. American Economic Review, 69(2):131-136, 1979. Funded by National Science Foundation, Grant No. SOC-77-15800. • Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. In a paper presented at the 91st meeting of the American Economic Association, Chicago, Illinois, August 29-31, 1978, the effects of public and private retirement policies on the level and distribution of employment and unemployment are examined. Retirement policies analyzed include social security, early and mandatory retirement, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). It is suggested that social security payroll tax on employers and employees probably reduces labor-force participation and employment rates of the nonaged. Other effects of the system are noted. pro-gen. 0215 Esposito, Louis. Effect of Social Security on Saving: Review of Studies Using U.S. TimeSeries Data. Social Security Bulletin, Social Security Administration, To examine the debate over the effect of social security on private saving, four empirical studies on the subject using U.S. time-series data are reviewed. The studies included are those by Martin Feldstein, Alicia Munnell, Robert J. Barro, and Michael R. Darby. It is argued that the results do not support the hypothesis that social security decreases private saving. pro-gen. 0216 Feldstein, Martin S. Social Security and Private Savings: International Evidence in an Extended Life Cycle Model. (Discussion Paper No. 361) Cambridge, MA, Harvard University, 1974. 0219 Feldstein, Martin. New Evidence on the Distribution of Funded by National Science Foundation. Revised estimates of the distribution of 0220 Feldstein, Martin. Social Insurance. In: Campbell, C., ed., Income Redistribution, pp. 71-97. Washington, DC, American Enterprise Funded by National Science Foundation Social insurance programs (including social security programs) are reviewed in terms of their income redistribution, behavioral, and protective effects. The nature of social insurance is examined, and implications for policy redesign are suggested. jnl-mod. 0221 Feldstein, Martin. The Social Security Fund and National Capital Accumulation. (Harvard Institute of Economic Research, Discussion Paper No. 505) Cambridge, MA, Harvard Institute of Economic Research, 1976. 61 pp. Funded by National Science Foundation. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. The effects of social security on national capital accumulation are noted, and it is suggested that development of a social security capital fund would offset the reduction in private savings induced by social security and put the system in better financial shape to deal with the aging of the American popula The traditional measure of household wealth is compared with a measure which incorporates the actuarial value of social security benefits (termed social security wealth) and net worth to arrive at a measure of total wealth. Results indicate that the distribution of total wealth is less concentrated than net worth ("fungible wealth"); the concentration of total wealth has decreased markedly since 1920; and a life cycle theory of wealth accumulation is more consistent with age-income distribution of total wealth than with the distribution of fungible wealth. jnl-mod. |