Essays in Public and Labor Economics

Abstract

This dissertation comprises three chapters. The first chapter estimates the crowd-out effect of Social Security on private retirement saving. In a quasi-experimental research design, I analyze the effect of the 1990 federal mandate of Social Security coverage for all state and local government employees who were not covered by an equivalent state pension. Using a sample of more than 12 million employer-employee observations on earnings and contributions to retirement plans, I find that Social Security coverage induces approximately 16% of those affected who had previously saved in private retirement plans to stop contributing. For those who continue contributing, Social Security coverage crowds out about 23% of pre-reform contributions.