Finance and Economics Discussion Series (FEDS)
September 2024
Social Security and High-Frequency Labor Supply: Evidence from Uber Drivers
Timothy K. M. Beatty, Joakim A. Weill
Abstract:
We estimate the impact of anticipated transfers on labor supply using confidential driver-level data from Uber. Leveraging the staggered timing of Social Security retirement benefits within each month and a novel identification strategy, we find that the labor supply of older drivers declines by 2%, on average, during the week of benefit receipt—a precisely estimated but economically small effect. Individual-level analyses reveal that the average effect obscures heterogeneous micro-behavior: while the majority of drivers do not meaningfully adjust labor supply in response to social security benefits, a small group reduces labor supply by more than 40%. The results suggest that departures from standard models of labor supply can be substantial, but only for a small number of individuals.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2024.079
PDF: Full Paper
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