View Research by Author - Nadia Karamcheva

Karamcheva's doctoral dissertation focused on private pensions and workers' savings behavior. She worked as a graduate research assistant at the Center for Retirement Research where she co-authored a series of research papers and briefs focused on Social Security claiming strategies, private pension participation and poverty among the elderly. Karamcheva also holds an M.A. in Economics from Boston College and a B.A. degree from the American University in Bulgaria, with a double major in Economics and Business Administration, and a minor in Mathematics.

Her research interests cover a broad range of topics in labor economics and applied econometrics, with emphasis on retirement and how government policies influence individual behavior.

Publications

Using the Dynamic Simulation of Income Model, we project how Social Security benefits and payroll taxes would change were Congress to enact the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform’s proposal. We show benefits at several points in time and relative to pre-retirement income, a low-income standard, and lifetime payroll tax contributions. The proposal’s projected effects are particularly deep relative to current law scheduled for those reaching retirement in several decades. Projected benefit reductions relate closely to lifetime earnings: Lower earners are largely shielded, higher earners face significant reductions. Projections are sensitive to workers’ assumed responses to certain proposal provisions.

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