{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/79969"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/79969","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Essays on Social Security and Labor Issues","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hong, Sungwoo; 0000-0001-7635-8082"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ehrlich, Isaac","Economics"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-07-30T15:11:28Z","date_published":"2019-07-30T15:11:28Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:21Z","subjects":["economics","public policy"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79969","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ehrlich, Isaac","Economics"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hong, Sungwoo; 0000-0001-7635-8082"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2019-07-30T15:11:28Z","2019","2019-05-15 23:28:19"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["economics","public policy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79969"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","A number of countries implementing a defined benefit pay-as-you-go (DB PAYG) social security have faced difficulties in maintaining the fiscal sustainability of their social security fund as they encounter demographic changes such as an increase in life expectancy, a decrease in fertility, and a resulting fall in the ratio of workers to retirees. Given this circumstance, this thesis explores effects of a social security reform under DB PAYG and of an alternative defined contribution funded (DC) social security. In Chapter 1, I investigate an effect of the increase in the Normal Retirement Age (NRA) in the US Social Security Amendments of 1983 on the unemployment duration of the older displaced. To identify this treatment effect, I employ a sharp regression discontinuity approach, in which the running variable is birth year and month. I found that the rise in NRA decreased the unemployment duration of women by approximately 1.2 to 2.3 months, depending on specifications, and that the treatment effect was statistically significant only for women. This consequence is consistent with a variety of subsamples for sensitivity tests. Such a heterogeneous outcome between genders could stem from a couple of factors. First, given that married couples tend to make decisions jointly and that the spouse benefit exists in the social security scheme, it would be optimal for the female spouse to lower her reservation wage rather than for the male spouse to lower his. Second, men are more likely to possess a private pension that could offset the effect of the benefit cut, according to previous literature. In addition, women are more likely to be responsive to the social security reform in order to meet the 10-year requirement to receive social security benefit in old age. In Chapter 2, I examine whether an increase in the contribution rate of DC social security has negative impacts on fertility, investment in human capital, and private savings. The main finding is that fertility and investment in human capital of children can either decrease or increase with the contribution rate of the DC scheme. However, the increase in the contribution rate cannot contemporaneously enhance or reduce the quantity and quality of children. In addition, under the assumption of non-perfect substitution between private and forced savings, the former savings are affected by the contribution rate in the same direction in which the investment in human capital is changed. An empirical analysis verifies this causal effect of the rise in the DC rate on family choices and private savings. Meanwhile, the simulation result suggests that possible adverse effects could be worse in the DB PAYG than in the DC scheme on the basis of the elasticity of the quantity and quality of children with respect to the social security tax rates.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Essays on Social Security and Labor Issues"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ehrlich, Isaac","Economics"],"dc:creator":["Hong, Sungwoo; 0000-0001-7635-8082"],"dc:date":["2019-07-30T15:11:28Z","2019","2019-05-15 23:28:19"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","A number of countries implementing a defined benefit pay-as-you-go (DB PAYG) social security have faced difficulties in maintaining the fiscal sustainability of their social security fund as they encounter demographic changes such as an increase in life expectancy, a decrease in fertility, and a resulting fall in the ratio of workers to retirees. Given this circumstance, this thesis explores effects of a social security reform under DB PAYG and of an alternative defined contribution funded (DC) social security. In Chapter 1, I investigate an effect of the increase in the Normal Retirement Age (NRA) in the US Social Security Amendments of 1983 on the unemployment duration of the older displaced. To identify this treatment effect, I employ a sharp regression discontinuity approach, in which the running variable is birth year and month. I found that the rise in NRA decreased the unemployment duration of women by approximately 1.2 to 2.3 months, depending on specifications, and that the treatment effect was statistically significant only for women. This consequence is consistent with a variety of subsamples for sensitivity tests. Such a heterogeneous outcome between genders could stem from a couple of factors. First, given that married couples tend to make decisions jointly and that the spouse benefit exists in the social security scheme, it would be optimal for the female spouse to lower her reservation wage rather than for the male spouse to lower his. Second, men are more likely to possess a private pension that could offset the effect of the benefit cut, according to previous literature. In addition, women are more likely to be responsive to the social security reform in order to meet the 10-year requirement to receive social security benefit in old age. In Chapter 2, I examine whether an increase in the contribution rate of DC social security has negative impacts on fertility, investment in human capital, and private savings. The main finding is that fertility and investment in human capital of children can either decrease or increase with the contribution rate of the DC scheme. However, the increase in the contribution rate cannot contemporaneously enhance or reduce the quantity and quality of children. In addition, under the assumption of non-perfect substitution between private and forced savings, the former savings are affected by the contribution rate in the same direction in which the investment in human capital is changed. An empirical analysis verifies this causal effect of the rise in the DC rate on family choices and private savings. Meanwhile, the simulation result suggests that possible adverse effects could be worse in the DB PAYG than in the DC scheme on the basis of the elasticity of the quantity and quality of children with respect to the social security tax rates.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79969"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["economics","public policy"],"dc:title":["Essays on Social Security and Labor Issues"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:21Z"}