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Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 35 No. 1 2017

Salience and Social Security Benefits

Christian Brinch1; Erik Hernæs2; Zhiyang Jia3

1 BI Norwegian Business School · 2 Economic Research Centre · 3 Statistics Norway

Abstract

We study the effect of salience in the social security benefit system on labor earnings by exploiting kinks and notches in budget lines introduced by earnings testing and social security accrual mechanisms for 67- to 69-year-old workers in Norway. An earnings test had large effects on labor earnings, while an accrual system discontinuity had no discernible effects. We interpret the difference as likely to be caused by a lack of salience in the accrual incentives: agents are not able or willing to take into account the value of future benefit increases when considering the relevant rewards for working.

DOI
10.1086/687580
Volume
35
Issue
1
Pages
265-297
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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