Social Security Reform in a Dynastic Life-Cycle Model with Endogenous Fertility

CERGE-EI Working Paper No. 381

56 Pages Posted: 19 Aug 2009

See all articles by Radim Bohacek

Radim Bohacek

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Volha Belush

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: January 2009

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of a fully funded social security reform with endogenous fertility in a detailed, general equilibrium life-cycle model with dynasties whose members differ in skills and life uncertainty. We find that as high skill households tend to save relatively more in assets than in children, models with exogenous fertility underestimate the aggregate capital stock in the PAYG steady state. These models also predict that the capital stock increases after the fully funded reform. However, because the high skill households respond to the reform by having more children and investing less in assets and intergenerational transfers, the average fertility increases and the aggregate capital stock falls. The welfare gains from the elimination of social security seem to more than compensate the agents for the lost insurance against life-span and earnings risks.

Keywords: fertility, social security, fiscal policy, public expenditures, taxation

JEL Classification: J13, H55, E62

Suggested Citation

Bohacek, Radim and Belush, Volha, Social Security Reform in a Dynastic Life-Cycle Model with Endogenous Fertility (January 2009). CERGE-EI Working Paper No. 381, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1448648 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1448648

Radim Bohacek

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz

Volha Belush (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )