American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
The Effects of Investing Social Security Funds in the Stock Market When Fixed Costs Prevent Some Households from Holding Stocks
American Economic Review
vol. 91,
no. 1, March 2001
(pp. 128–148)
Abstract
With fixed costs of participating in the stock market, consumers with high income will participate in the stock market, but consumers with lower income will not participate. If a fully funded defined-contribution Social Security system tries to exploit the equity premium by selling a dollar of bonds per capita and buying a dollar of equity per capita, consumers who save but do not participate in the stock market will increase their consumption, thereby reducing saving and capital accumulation. Calibration of a general-equilibrium model indicates that this policy could reduce the aggregate capital stock substantially, by about 50 cents per capita.Citation
Abel, Andrew, B. 2001. "The Effects of Investing Social Security Funds in the Stock Market When Fixed Costs Prevent Some Households from Holding Stocks." American Economic Review, 91 (1): 128–148. DOI: 10.1257/aer.91.1.128JEL Classification
- H55 Social Security and Public Pensions
- D15 Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving