Publications

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

617-552-1762 TEL
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crr@bc.edu

Briefs

Briefs offer concise and insightful analyses of topical issues.

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What Explains Variation in Disability Application Rates Across States?

by Norma B. Coe, Kelly Haverstick, Alicia H. Munnell, and Anthony Webb

January 2012

IB#12-1

Introduction

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications and benefit receipts vary greatly by state, which has led to concerns about potential inconsistencies in the way that states apply disability standards. This possibility has prompted numerous Congressional hearings and reports, and led the Social Security Advisory Board to express concern about the Social Security Administration’s ability to disentangle the potential causes. This brief, using a longer time period and more comprehensive list of variables than other studies, explores the extent to which health, demographic, and employment characteristics – as well as state policies or politics – explain the variation across states...

For full brief

For related working paper

Norma B. Coe is associate director for research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). Kelly Haverstick is a former CRR research economist. Alicia H. Munnell is director of the CRR and the Peter F. Drucker Professor in Management Sciences at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Anthony Webb is a research economist at the CRR.

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