Alexander Gelber

Overview

Alexander Gelber is a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research spans labor economics, public finance, and social insurance — particularly the behavioral and health effects of disability insurance, Social Security, and the tax system.

Key Contributions

• DI Income Saves Lives (Gelber, Moore, and Strand 2017): Used a Regression Kink Design at three bend points in the DI benefit formula to estimate the causal effect of DI payment size on beneficiary mortality. Found that $1,000/year in additional DI income reduces annual mortality by 0.26 pp at the lower bend point (elasticity −0.56), with a cost-per-life-year of ~$59,000 — comparable to VSLY thresholds. Established that DI cash transfers constitute a large previously uncounted welfare benefit.
• DI Income and Earnings (Gelber, Moore, and Strand 2016): Companion paper using the same RKD strategy at the upper bend point to estimate the pure income effect of DI payment size on beneficiaries' earnings. Main finding: $1 increase in DI →$0.20 decrease in annual earnings (stable across all four post-DI years). Since this income effect nearly matches the total crowdout found by MMS (2013) and French/Song (2014), substitution effects from the SGA threshold appear small. Women (−35 cents) and younger workers <45 (−32 cents) show larger income effects than men (−23 cents) and older workers (−19 cents).

Related

• Timothy Moore
• Alexander Strand
• DI Beneficiary Mortality
• Disability Insurance Program
• Income-Mortality Gradient
• Causal Effects of DI Receipt
• Regression Kink Design

Sources

• Gelber Moore and Strand 2017 — Disability Insurance Income Saves Lives
• Gelber Moore and Strand 2016 — The Effect of Disability Insurance Payments on Beneficiaries Earnings