The Role of Information in Disability Insurance Application: An Analysis of the Social Security Statement Phase-In

Philip Armour

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-41

Abstract: This paper exploits a natural experiment in information provision on US Disability Insurance (DI) applications: the Social Security statement. Although the effect of the statement on DI application was negligible in the general health and retirement study population, among those previously reporting a work limitation, biennial DI application rates approximately doubled. This effect was driven by previously uninformed individuals. Additional analyses show these were new applicants and were no less likely to be accepted onto DI, accounting for a substantial fraction of the rise in DI rolls from 1994 to 2004 and indicating the importance of informational frictions in disability policymaking.

JEL-codes: D83 G22 H55 J14 J28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.20160605
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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