Voting on Social Security: Evidence from OECD Countries

This article tests the subset of public choice models for social security that have empirical implications. The data, collected from OECD countries for the years 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990, provide some support for each of the theories. Higher median voter age, more income heterogeneity, greater similarity in family size, and variables that make a public pension program more profitable are all associated with a larger program. However, none of the theories explains why the shape of the age distribution and the time trend are so important. The results are robust under both fixed-effects and random-effects estimation.