Tracking the Household Income of SSDI and SSI Applicants

Using panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation linked to Social Security Administration disability determination records we trace the pattern of household income and the sources of that income from 38 months prior to 39 months following application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI). We find that the average applicant’s labor earnings declines dramatically beginning six month before application but the average applicant’s household income drops much less dramatically both in the months just before or just after application and over the next three years, and does so even for those denied benefits. However, we also found substantial heterogeneity in household income outcomes in both the SSDI and SSI applicant population. Our quantile regressions suggest that higher income households experience greater percentage declines in their post-application income. Such results are consistent with the lower replacement rate for higher earners established in the SSDI program and the low absolute level of protection provided to all SSI applicants regardless of income prior to application.

Disability Benefits as Social Insurance: Tradeoffs Between Screening Stringency and Benefit Generosity in Optimal Program Design

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) system is designed to provide income security to workers in the event that health problems prevent them from working. In order to qualify for benefits, applicants must pass a medical screening that is intended to verify that the individual is truly incapable of work. Past research has shown, however, that the screening procedures used do not function without error. If screening were error-free, it has can be demonstrated that it is socially optimal to distinguish the disabled non-worker from the non-disabled, providing benefits to the disabled. In this paper we first demonstrate that if the errors in the medical screening are too large, it will not be optimal to distinguish the disabled from the non-disabled. Then, we use data on the actual quality of screening to determine first, if segmenting the non-working population is desirable, and second whether the current SSDI system relies too heavily on screening than is justified. Our preliminary conclusion is that while screening is good enough to justify some distinction in benefits, it may not be good enough to justify the size of the benefit offered.

A Look at Nebraska\u27s Occupational Mix

Nebraska\u27s low rate of unemployment, job counts, and relatively steady employment growth history reflect favorably, in general terms, on the state\u27s economy. Behind the job numbers and growth, however, are specific mixes of occupations such as technicians, executives, clerks, managers, and teachers. These occupations generate tax revenues and contribute to overall economic well being in accordance with their wage levels. A detailed examination of actual wages by occupation in Nebraska is far beyond the scope ofthis article. However, one can compare the mix of occupations in Nebraska to that of the nation to answer a fundamental question: Based on the industries in the state, are certain occupational categories under or over represented in Nebraska\u27s labor market in comparison to the national market

A Look at Nebraska\u27s Occupational Mix

Nebraska\u27s low rate of unemployment, job counts, and relatively steady employment growth history reflect favorably, in general terms, on the state\u27s economy. Behind the job numbers and growth, however, are specific mixes of occupations such as technicians, executives, clerks, managers, and teachers. These occupations generate tax revenues and contribute to overall economic well being in accordance with their wage levels. A detailed examination of actual wages by occupation in Nebraska is far beyond the scope ofthis article. However, one can compare the mix of occupations in Nebraska to that of the nation to answer a fundamental question: Based on the industries in the state, are certain occupational categories under or over represented in Nebraska\u27s labor market in comparison to the national market

Shareholder Engagement and Chevron’s Policy 520 on Human Rights: The Role Played by the United States Jesuit Conference’s “National Jesuit Committee on Investment Responsibility”

Purpose To demonstrate how the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in the United States through the “National Jesuit Committee on Investment Responsibility” played a significant role as a socially conscious institutional and religious investor in influencing Chevron’s Human Rights Policy 520 and to analyze the factors that contributed to a successful shareholder engagement with the company. Methodology/approach Case study based on firsthand information. Findings Our conclusion offers support for Allen et al.’s (2012) conclusion of legitimacy (credibility) being the dominant force in a successful engagement. We found that coalition-building is a significant moderating variable in increasing shareholder salience. This finding contradicts the study by Gifford (2010). Originality/value of chapter The chapter is based on the actual process of shareholder engagement with Chevron Corporation that led to the human rights policy and is written mainly based on firsthand information

America's North Coast: A Benefit-Cost Analysis of a Program to Protect and Restore the Great Lakes

Examines the baseline ecological conditions of the Great Lakes and offers a plan for the area's environmental protection and restoration. Demonstrates how a restoration program can provide economic benefits that substantially exceed its costs

Resale Price Maintenance After Leegin: Why Treating Vertical Price-Fixing As “Inherently Suspect” Is the Only Viable Alternative to the Traditional Rule of Reason

The Article focuses on resale price maintenance (RPM) and price fixing in the U.S. Information is provided on the U.S. Supreme Court case Leegin Creative Leather Products Inc. v. PSKS Inc. which made vertical RPM legal under U.S. commerce law. Topics include the Court\u27s interpretation of the U.S. Sherman Act and the validity of the rule of reason standard regarding price maintenance

A High-Throughput Screening Platform for In Vitro Elastic Fiber Production and the Mass Transport Properties of the Elastic Fiber Compromised Arterial Wall

Elastin comprises nearly 50% of the wall in large elastic arteries and has a broad variety of physiological roles. As a structural extracellular matrix protein, elastin is responsible for the reversible elasticity in large arties that dampens pulsatile flow and ultimately reduces the workload on the heart. Structural compromise to the elastic fiber network is apparent in the elastin genetic disorders, supravalvular aortic stenosis and autosomal dominant cutis laxa-1, and acquired elastin disorders including hypertension, atherosclerosis, artery calcification, aneurysms, diabetes, and obesity. All of these disorders lead to an increased incidence of cardiovascular related death and the compromised elastic fiber network plays an important role in the degeneration of cardiovascular function. Elastin also serves as an important biological signal in both the development of the arterial vasculature and the progression of several of the previously mentioned cardiovascular disorders. Elastin’s physiological role is often overlooked in strategies being developed to treat these cardiovascular disorders. The work of this thesis has focused on two areas in particular that elastic fibers have been underrepresented; the generation of elastic fibers in vitro and the importance elastic fiber network on determining the mass transport properties of the arterial wall. Tissue engineered arteries lack a proper elastic fiber network, in part because elastin content is difficult to quantify and because inducing elastic fiber formation in vitro is challenging. We developed a platform for measuring elastic fiber production in vitro. We used a competitive ELISA for desmosine, an amino acid unique to elastic fibers, to detect elastic fiber production. We made adjustments to the cell culture conditions of rat lung fibroblast cells to improve their output of elastic fibers. We used this platform to perform a high-throughput screen on a small molecule library to search for molecules that could induce elastic fiber production. We also used our platform to screen the effect of minodixil and diazoxide on elastic fiber production as these antihypertensive drugs have been shown by other researchers to induce elastin gene expression but their effect on mature elastic fiber production was undetermined. Drug delivery in pharmaceutical strategies for treating aneurysm formation, arterial stiffness, and atherosclerosis is a rapidly developing area. However, current models of mass transport in the arterial wall make numerous assumptions that either diminish the contribution of the elastic fiber network or ignore it completely and there is a lack of empirical investigation on the transport properties of the arterial wall. We hypothesized that the elastic fiber network serves to limit transport across the wall. We developed ex vivo methods for measuring transmural advective transport of solute and fluid in mouse carotid arteries at physiological pressure and axial stretch. We investigated the effect of disrupting the elastic fiber network on arterial wall transport using a genetic knockout of Fibulin-5 (Fbln5-/-) or treatment with elastase. Fibulin-5 is an important director of elastic fiber assembly. Arteries from Fbln5-/- mice have a loose, non-continuous elastic fiber network. The changes in transport properties of elastic fiber compromised arteries we observed have important implications for the kinetics of biomolecules and pharmaceuticals in arterial tissue following elastic fiber degradation due to aging or vascular disease