01720cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF007430 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781451944174 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Valdivia, Victor. The Insurance Role of Social Security : Theory and Lessons for Policy Reform / Victor Valdivia. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 1997. 1 online resource (49 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students This paper examines the impact of social security on welfare. The provision of social security reduces precautionary savings and encourages early retirement. Consequently, it lowers aggregate capital, employment, output, and consumption. On the other hand, it also provides old age insurance. This trade-off is examined using a life-cycle general equilibrium model. The paper finds that the current U.S. Social Security system can improve welfare even though the levels of aggregate output, employment, capital, and consumption fall relative to their levels without such a system. The welfare gains arise from insurance against living much longer than expected. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 1997/113 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/1997/113/001.1997.issue-113-en.xml IMF e-Library