Abstract
This thesis consists of three different essays-organized as different chapters-that deal with
empirical as well as theoretical aspects of the economics of retirement. The first essay contributes
to the theoretical life-cycle literature by analyzing in depth the role of retirement date expectations
in determining saving behavior. As our main contribution, we demonstrate that the magnitude of the
reaction of consumption and saving behavior of younger individuals to a change in the retirement date
is largely determined by the degree to which utility is additively separable in consumption and leisure.
The second essay is an econometric study that uses data from the US Health and Retirement Study to
investigate whether Americans do, in fact, alter their saving behavior in response to changing retirement
date expectations. Our obtained point estimates suggest that the responsiveness of households' saving
behavior to retirement dates expectations is large. Finally, the third essay contributes to the literature
on the formation and rationality of retirement expectations, with particular emphasis on the role of
focal point responses. In this essay, we argue that the increased tendency with age to give a focal
point answer of probability one to the question regarding the probability of working full time after age
62, is the primary cause for the failure of this subjective probability to converge to the corresponding
objective probability over time. As our main contribution, we offer a novel interpretation of focal point
responses in terms of ambiguous beliefs dynamics that arise in new developments of decision theory
such as Choquet expected utility theory.
Romm, A (2021). Three Essays on Retirement Date Expectations and Saving Behavior. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/three-essays-on-retirement-date-expectations-and-saving-behavior
Romm, Aylit "Three Essays on Retirement Date Expectations and Saving Behavior" Afribary. Afribary, 15 May. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/three-essays-on-retirement-date-expectations-and-saving-behavior. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
Romm, Aylit . "Three Essays on Retirement Date Expectations and Saving Behavior". Afribary, Afribary, 15 May. 2021. Web. 27 Nov. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/three-essays-on-retirement-date-expectations-and-saving-behavior >.
Romm, Aylit . "Three Essays on Retirement Date Expectations and Saving Behavior" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 27, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/three-essays-on-retirement-date-expectations-and-saving-behavior