Recently, researchers have shown renewed interest in the economic implications of social security programs. Of primary concern has been the effect that social security programs have on the aggregate level of private saving and labor supply. In most cases this macro-level research has been carried out without a rigorous analysis of how individual saving, leisure, and retirement decision making is affected by such programs. To correct these deficiencies this study thoroughly analyzes participant behavior in both certain and uncertain worlds. In the absence of any form of uncertainty, participant leisure and saving decisions are examined within a life-cycle framework which incorporates a social security program with survivors benefits. Retirement decisions are investigated under various assumptions concerning the objectives of the participant.;This study also analyzes the effects of uncertaintly of survival and increasing live expectancy on the saving and leisure decisions of the participant. Finally, the effects of uncertainty in economic variables, including benefit levels, are described within the framework of a temporal uncertainty model.
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