Econometric models and the study of the economic effects of Social Security

This article provides a relatively nontechnical discussion of previously published research on the use of econometric models in the study of the economic effects of social security. It illustrates the role of econometric model building by focusing on three major applications: forecasting, policy simulation, and hypothesis testing. A series of three macroeconomic examples serves to emphasize that the development and use of such models puts the focus of the analysis on the underlying economic structure. The first example presents a program-specific model of the Social Security system, the second a large-scale model of the U.S. economy, and the third a single-equation analysis of a specific issue.