Several recent studies have examined the steady-state welfare implications of mortality differentials within unfunded Social Security systems, concluding that these differentials undermine the progressivity of the system and make society worse-off relative to alternative public pension schemes. This study is the first to systematically investigate the long-run implications of mortality inequality within the U.S. Social Security system. Utilizing an OLG endogenous growth model of the U.S. economy, I compare the current pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system to versions of the model without either mortality differentials or income inequality. I find that the assumption of mortality homogeneity biases the equilibrium growth rate and welfare analysis. The PAYG system is also compared to a fully funded system based on capital subsidies. The model predicts that PAYG suppresses growth and that, for a given range of subsidy rates, the fully funded system Pareto dominates PAYG in both the medium-run and the long-run.

最近的几项研究检查了没有资金支持的社会保障系统中死亡率差异对稳态福利的影响，得出的结论是，这些差异破坏了系统的累进性，并使社会相对于替代公共养老金计划变得更糟。这项研究首次系统地调查了美国社会保障体系中死亡率不平等的长期影响。利用美国经济的 OLG 内生增长模型，我将当前的现收现付 (PAYG) 系统与没有死亡率差异或收入不平等的模型版本进行比较。我发现死亡率同质性的假设使均衡增长率和福利分析产生偏差。PAYG 系统也与基于资本补贴的全额资助系统进行了比较。