The earnings test and the short-run work response to its elimination

Eliminating the earnings test will have different effects on the work effort of persons aged 65-69, depending on whether or not they are currently working or currently receiving Social Security benefits. This article reviews the development of the earnings test and examines the theoretical implications on work effort of removing the test for members of this age group. It looks at the Current Population Survey (CPS) data to determine how many persons aged 65-69 have characteristics that can be identified with groups that would theoretically increase, decrease, or not change their work effort should they no longer be subject to the earnings test. This analysis suggests that at least 80 percent, and perhaps more than 90 percent, of the 9.7 million persons aged 65-69 will not change their level of work effort if the earnings test is eliminated. Individuals who would modify their hours worked and earnings are fairly evenly split among those who would increase, decrease, or have an undetermined direction of change in their work effort.     

Income of new disabled-worker beneficiaries and their families: findings from the New Beneficiary Survey

In 1982, disabled workers who came on the social security disability insurance rolls from mid-1980 to mid-1981 had median monthly incomes of less than $500 if they were unmarried and less than $1,300 if they were married. These median monthly income levels, which include the income of a spouse and minor children if present, are roughly half those of the noninstitutionalized population aged 25-64. Social security benefits are the most important source of income for disabled workers and their families: They account for 40 percent of the total family income of married disabled workers and 65 percent of the total income of unmarried disabled workers. Social security benefits provide at least half of all income for more than 80 percent of unmarried disabled-worker beneficiaries and for 50 percent of the married beneficiaries. For married disabled-worker beneficiaries, earnings of the spouse are the second most important income source. Spousal earnings account for 28 percent of total income. Pensions and asset income each account for about 10 percent of total income for these married beneficiaries. Earnings are not an important source of income for unmarried disabled-worker beneficiaries for whom they amount to only about 3 percent of total income. Pensions, asset income, and public transfers each account for about 10 percent of total income of the unmarried beneficiaries.     

Health status of new retired-worker beneficiaries: findings from the New Beneficiary Survey

In general, individuals who first received social security retired-worker benefits in June 1980-May 1981 viewed themselves as being in good health. They reported this view in response to questions in the 1982 New Beneficiary Survey conducted by the Social Security Administration. Two-thirds of the respondents in the retired-worker sample reported having no health-related work limitations and no moderate or severe functional activity limitations. However, more than half of those who did report such limitations indicated that the limitations were severe enough to keep them from any work for pay. Beneficiaries whose first monthly benefits were claimed at age 62 were more likely to report themselves in poor health than those receiving a first benefit at age 63 or older, but even among the 62-year-olds, more than three-fifths reported no work-limiting conditions.     

Designing an International Liability Regime to Compensate Victims of Solar Radiation Management

Solar radiation management (SRM) is a geoengineering method that promises to forestall the devastating impacts of climate change by cooling the atmosphere. Although SRM could avert a climate disaster, it also carries the potential to cause numerous, grave, and unequally distributed harms. In fact, some of these harms are unavoidable. A carefully designed liability regime can resolve SRM-related disputes and compensate victims of SRM deployment. This article considers existing international liability regimes in the context of the practical and normative challenges posed by SRM to offer recommendations for an international liability regime to govern SRM.     

On the apparent benefits of higher productivity: An arithmetical illustration a comment

During the 1980s, like many other developing countries Nepal attempted actively to attract direct foreign investment. This article reports the results of a survey of the foreign‐owned firms in operation at the end of the 1980s. The motives of firms for their investment decisions in Nepal are summarised. The impact of foreign investment is assessed quantitatively using both financial and economic cost‐benefit criteria. In general, it appears that foreign investment has been beneficial to both the foreign investors and the national economy. Foreign investors from India have played a particularly important role. However, much of the national returns from foreign investment is derived from the payment of taxes, so that an excessively generous policy of tax incentives may not maximise national returns.     

Psychiatric evaluations of sexual offenders

Ninety-five defendants charged with sexual offenses were evaluated in a forensic psychiatry clinic. Their psychiatric diagnoses, as well as social, demographic, and criminal characteristics, were studied. Almost half were found to have personality disorders, while one-fifth were given a diagnosis of schizophrenia, affective disorder, or an atypical psychosis. Surprisingly few were diagnosed as having a paraphilia.