People

Center for
Retirement Research
at Boston College
Hovey House
140 Commonwealth
Chestnut Hill
MA 02467-3808

617-552-1762 TEL
617-552-0191 FAX
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People

The Center and its network of experts possess a breadth of knowledge on retirement issues virtually unmatched in the field. Our researchers include leading scholars at Boston College and at affiliated institutions, such as MIT, The Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Urban Institute. In the eight years since its inception, the Center has established a reputation as an authoritative source of information on all major aspects of the retirement income debate. From the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, from corporate board rooms to debates on Capitol Hill, the Center is the hub for expertise on this issue.

Lawrence H. Thompson

Senior Fellow
The Urban Institute

Background

Lawrence Thompson is a Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute. Dr. Thompson has spent his entire career dealing with education, income security and health issues. Currently, Dr. Thompson manages an international study of the various issues involved in integrating public and private approaches to Social Security programs. Before joining The Urban Institute in 1996, Dr. Thompson held a number of research, policy and administrative positions in the federal government. Most notably, he served as Principal Deputy Commissioner for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Previously, he was an Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) of the United States at the General Accounting Office, where he was responsible for the oversight of all federal health, education, labor market and income security programs. Before his tenure as an ACG, Dr. Thompson was GAO’s Chief Economist. He also held various positions at the SSA, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Dr. Thompson received a B.S. in Business Administration from Iowa State University, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Research Projects for the Center for Retirement Research

Completed
"Reform Model Two of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security: Distributional Outcomes Under Different Economic and Behavioral Assumptions" (with Melissa M. Favreault, Joshua H. Goldwyn, Karen E. Smith, Cori E. Uccello and Sheila R. Zedlewski), Working Paper, #2004-19, August 2004

"Simulating the Distributional Consequences of Personal Accounts: Sensitivity to Annuitization Options" (with Cori E. Uccello, Karen E. Smith, and Melissa M. Favreault), Working Paper, #2003-17, October 2003

Dr. Thompson is involved in the Center’s research activities through consultation and participation in conferences.

Selected Publications

Thompson, Lawrence. 1998. Older and Wiser: The Economics of Public Pensions. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
Thompson, Lawrence. 1996. "Principles of Financing Social Security Pensions." International Social Security Review 49(3): 45-63.
Thompson, Lawrence. 1992. "Social Security Surpluses." In The New Palgrave Dictionary of Money and Finance. Dorset, England: Macmillian.