Mauricio Soto
Senior Research Associate
Mauricio Soto is a research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering (1998) from La Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, an MBA (1999) and an M.A . in Economics (2000) from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston College (2008). His research interests include pension finance and economics, labor economics, and applied econometrics. His published work include an analysis of the incentives facing older women when deciding to claim their Social Security benefits (Journal of Financial Planning), an investigation on the Chilean pension system (Pensions An International Journal), and a study on the effects of stock market changes on contributions to defined benefit plans (Journal of Pensions Economics and Finance). Mr. Soto is also responsible for developing a database from the 5500 forms supported by a grant from the National Institute of Health.
Research Projects for the Center for Retirement Research
Completed
"An Assessment of Life-Cycle Funds" (with Robert K. Triest, Alex Golub-Sass, and Francesca Golub-Sass), Working Paper, #2008-10, May 2008.
"Why Do More Older Men Work in Some States?" (with Alicia H. Munnell and Natalia A. Zhivan), Issue in Brief, #8-6, April 2008.
"What Do We Know About the Universe of State and Local Plans?" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Kelly Haverstick, and Jean-Pierre Aubry), State and Local Plan Issue in Brief, #4, March 2008.
"Health Care Costs Drive Up the National Retirement Risk Index" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Anthony Webb, Francesca Golub-Sass, and Dan Muldoon), Issue in Brief, #8-3, Febraury 2008.
"Why Have Some States Introduced Defined Contribution Plans?" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Alex Golub-Sass, Kelly Haverstick and Gregory Wiles), State and Local Plan Issue in Brief, #3, January 2008.
"Why Are Companies Freezing Their Pensions?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Working Paper, #2007-22, December 2007.
"Why Have Defined Benefit Plans Survived in the Public Sector?" (with Alicia H. Munnell and Kelly Haverstick), State and Local Plan Issue in Brief, #2, December 2007.
"State and Local Pensions Are Different From Private Plans " (with Alicia H. Munnell), State and Local Plan Issue in Brief, #1, November 2007.
"Working Wives Reduce Social Security Replacement Rates" (with Alicia H. Munnell and Geoffrey Sanzenbacher), Issue in Brief, #7-15, October 2007.
"Investment Returns: Defined Benefit vs. 401(k)" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Jerilyn Libby, and John Prinzivalli), Issue in Brief #52, September 2006.
"Has the Displacement of Older Workers Increased?" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Steven Sass, and Natalia Zhivan), Working Paper #2006-17, September 2006.
"Will We Have to Work Forever?" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Marric Buessing, and Steven A. Sass), Work Opportunity Issue in Brief #4, July 2006.
"Employer Attitudes Toward Older Workers: Survey Results" (with Alicia H. Munnell and Steven A. Sass), Work Opportunity Issue in Brief #3, July 2006.
"Why Are Healthy Employers Freezing Their Pensions?" (with Alicia H. Munnell, Francesca Golub-Sass, and Francis Vitagliano), Issue in Brief #44, March 2006.
"The State of Private Pensions: Current 5500 Data" (with Marric Buessing), Issue in Brief # 42, February 2006.
"The House and Living Standards in Retirement" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Issue in Brief #39, December 2005.
"How Do Pensions Affect Replacement Rates?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Issue in Brief #37, November 2005.
"Sorting Out Social Security Replacement Rates" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Just the Facts #19, November 2005.
"How Much Pre-Retirement Income Does Social Security Replace?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Issue in Brief #36, November 2005.
"Why Do Women Claim Social Security Benefits So Early?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Issue in Brief #35, October 2005.
"What Replacement Rates Do Households Actually Experience in Retirement?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Working Paper #2005-10, August 2005.
"What is Progressive Price Indexing?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Just the Facts #17, April 2005.
"Will Baby Boomers Drown in Debt?" Just the Facts #15, March 2005.
"What Does Price Indexing Mean for Social Security Benefits?" (with Alicia H. Munnell), Just the Facts #14, January 2005.