Jeffrey Liebman

Overview

Jeffrey B. Liebman is an economist at Harvard Kennedy School. His work focuses on social insurance programs, tax policy, and public management. He is known for decomposition analyses of DI enrollment growth and for co-authoring reform proposals targeting misaligned incentives in the DI system (Liebman and Smalligan 2013, Hamilton Project).

Key Contributions

• DI growth decomposition (Liebman 2015): counterfactual simulation model decomposing the 1985–2007 rise in the DI beneficiary ratio into five factors; establishes the "tale of two time periods" framework separating the policy-driven 1980s from the demographically driven post-1992 period
• Reform proposals (Liebman and Smalligan 2013): three federal pilot demonstrations targeting early intervention, employer incentives, and state restructuring; proposal to shift DDS funding from discretionary to mandatory budget to address the CDR underfunding problem
• Social Security handbook (with Feldstein 2002): Handbook of Public Economics chapter on Social Security

Related

• Disability Insurance Program
• DI Growth Decomposition
• Disability Insurance Chronology
• Office of the Chief Actuary
• Social Security Administration

Sources

• Liebman 2015 — Understanding the Increase in Disability Insurance Benefit Receipt in the United States
• Carey Miller and Molitor 2025 — Why Does Disability Increase During Recessions Evidence from Medicare
• Case and Deaton 2015 — Rising Morbidity and Mortality in Midlife Among White Non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st Century
• Cutler Meara and Richards-Shubik 2012 — Unemployment and Disability Evidence from the Great Recession
• Cutler Meara Powell Richards-Shubik and Stewart 2015 — Why Do Disability Insurance Claims Increase During Recessions
• Rutledge Zulkarnain and King 2019 — The Relationship Between Occupational Requirements and SSDI Activity