New evidence on earnings and benefit claims following changes in the retirement earnings test in 2000

This paper examines the labor force activity and timing of benefit claims of workers aged 65–69 in response to the removal of the retirement earnings test in 2000. We use the 1% sample of longitudinal Social Security administrative data that covers the period from 4 years before to 4 years after the removal of the test. Using a reduced-form quantile regression method, we find that effects on earnings are limited to workers with earnings just around the test threshold and above, as predicted by economic theory. Our estimated effects suggest that labor supply elasticities with respect to the net-of-tax rate are approximately 0.05–0.07 for working primary beneficiaries aged 65–69 whose earnings are between the median and the 80th percentile. Further, results show that applications for Social Security benefits following the earnings test removal accelerated by 2 to 5 percentage points among individuals aged 65–69 and by 3 to 7 percentage points among those reaching age 65.     

Allocation and the earnings function

This paper stresses the view that earnings differentials should be interpreted in the light of allocation in the labor market. A model is developed that acknowledges the difference between individual levels of characteristics and the levels of such characteristics required in the job. It is applied to data sets for the Netherlands, with education as the most important variable. Neither the individual's education nor the requirements of the job alone are sufficient to determine earnings: they should be considered jointly. The earnings function containing allocation thus proves superior to the function derived from either human capital theory or from segmented labor market theory.     

Corporate retained earnings and personal sector saving: a test of the life-cycle hypothesis of saving

The dynamic personal saving function proposed by Swamy (1968) nests in a common framework, the life-cycle hypothesis (LCH) and the Houthakker-Taylor (1970) model of saving. Having accounted for a limitation of the generality of the Swamy result, which regards the role of corporate retention in the two models, the Swamy framework is used to test the LCH implication of perfect substitutability between personal saving and corporate retained earnings using UK data for the 1951–83 period. The empirical results cast doubt on the perfect substitution hypothesis.     

Capital utilization and retirement

This empirical analysis assesses the determinants of firms’ capital retirement. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the business cycle and the capital usage intensity. Compared to previous studies, we directly control for the capital utilization and disentangle the short-run mechanisms from the long-run ones. The analysis is carried out with an original and large firm-level dataset. The main results of the analysis may be summarized as follows: (i) the retirement rate increases during slowdowns and decreases during booms. This corresponds to a countercyclical capital retirement; (ii) the capital retirement rate increases with the capital usage intensity in the long run. This corresponds to a wear and tear effect, which is small compared to the countercyclical one; (iii) the capital retirement rate increases with the average age of capital; (iv) the profit rate and the wage cost per capita do not have a significant impact on the retirement rate.     

Taxation of early retirement windows and delaying retirement: The French experience

This paper investigates the effect of the 2003 French pension reform on hiring, firing and employment rates among older workers. This reform increased the mandatory retirement age and simultaneously it set a tax levied on early retirement windows paid by firms to their older workers, to encourage them to leave their job early. We use a matching model with endogenous job destruction extended to account for a mandatory retirement age and we calibrate the model with data drawn from the French Labor Force Surveys for the years 2002 and 2003. We show that in the case of a high tax rate, delaying retirement raises job separation rates, which partially offsets its positive effect on job finding rates. Consequently, the combination of an increase in the retirement age and a taxation on early retirement windows may have negative effects on the employment rate among older workers.     

The retirement consumption puzzle revisited: Evidence from the mandatory retirement policy in China

Using data from China's Urban Household Survey and exploiting China's mandatory retirement policy, we use the regression discontinuity approach to estimate the impact of retirement on household expenditures. Retirement reduces total non-durable expenditures by 19%. Among the categories of non-durable expenditures, retirement reduces work-related expenditures and expenditures on food consumed at home but has an insignificant effect on expenditures on entertainment. After excluding these three components, retirement does not have an effect on the remaining non-durable expenditures. It suggests that the retirement consumption puzzle might not be a puzzle if an extended life-cycle model with home production is considered.     

Accounting practices,earnings volatility,and earnings forecast: The case of the oil and gas producing companies

International Advances in Economic Research -     

Time inconsistency and retirement planning

We quantify the welfare gains from better retirement planning using a model in which retirement planning is time inconsistent. A modest increase in a household’s planning horizon by just a few years generates large aggregate and individual welfare gains.     

Directors network centrality and earnings quality

This study examines whether firms with network central boards of directors behave differently from other firms in terms of financial reporting quality. We find that earnings quality among firms is low when board networks are channels of incorrect information transmission (including earnings management information) and for firms whose directors are awarded equity-based compensation have connections through boardroom networks, but earnings quality is better for firms with good performance in spite of their networks. These results are robust to controlling for firm information environment, growth, size, age, leverage, performance, volatility in firm operations, and corporate governance.     

Errors in self-reported earnings: The role of previous earnings volatility and individual characteristics

I report the measurement error in self-reported earnings for a developing country using a novel data set. The data set consists of two cross-sections of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) wage and salary sectors; additionally, a subset of the two cross-sections may be linked to create a panel. Administrative data from FSM Social Security office are matched to the FSM Census data for the wage and salary sectors. I find that the error in annual self-reported earnings is centered on zero. Additionally, I find strong evidence for mean reversion in the data suggesting non-classical measurement error. I identify the impact of prior years' earnings variability on the current reporting of earnings using administrative data on earnings histories. Prior earnings volatility strongly affects measurement error in current period. However, the effect of prior shocks diminish significantly over time—suggesting that first-differencing and fixed-effects techniques will not improve accuracy.     

Mandatory retirement and older worker employment

Abstract.  In this paper we take advantage of differences in the legal status of mandatory retirement in Canada across jurisdictions and over time to assess its impact on the share of older people working. The results suggest that making mandatory retirement illegal would have little effect on the size of the older workforce, and therefore such a policy alone would do little to alleviate problems associated with an aging population and the consequent decline in the share of the population employed. JEL Classification: J26, J88     

Ethnic enclaves and immigrant earnings growth

Abstract.  The impact of living in an ethnic enclave on earnings growth of immigrants in Canada is examined using the 1981–2001 Censuses. Consistent with U.S. findings, enclaves are found to have a negative impact on the earnings growth of male immigrants. A negative impact is also found for female immigrants. Living in an enclave was found to be particularly harmful for individuals immigrating as adults, especially for females, but did not affect immigrants who arrived at a young age. Enclaves had a more negative impact on high-skilled male immigrants, especially if they had received the bulk of their education outside Canada. Enclaves were also found to hinder language skills.     

Ageing,cognitive abilities and retirement

We investigate the relationship between ageing, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a household panel that offers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. The human capital framework suggests that retirement may cause an increase in cognitive decline, since after retirement individuals lose the market incentive to invest in cognitive repair activities. Our empirical results, based on an instrumental variable strategy to deal with the potential endogeneity of retirement, confirm this key prediction. They also indicate that education plays a fundamental role in explaining heterogeneity in the level of cognitive abilities.     

论盈余管理的动机及其影响

盈余管理是会计政策的选择具有经济后果的一种具体表现,只要上市公司的管理人员有选择不同会计政策的自由,他们必定会选择使其效用最大化或上市公司的市场价值最大化（股价最大化）的会计政策。企业或相关人员可能出于筹资、节税、逃避处罚、获得报酬、减压、蒙蔽社会公众和政府等多种动机进行盈余管理,其影响表现为消极和积极两个方面。     

盈余管理的实证研究综述

盈余管理的实证研究渐亦成为盈余管理研究的主要方面,而实证研究的具体内容却极其庞杂。通过对国内外学者盈余管理实证研究具体内容的探寻,进而发现盈余管理实证研究的发展趋势。盈余管理的实证研究内容正在从早期的专注于盈余管理动机手段等向注重于盈余管理与会计政策、关联交易、公司治理、审计、企业并购的关系等具体方面发展。