No abstract

Using data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals, this paper describes the shape of consumption profiles over the month for Social Security benefit recipients that have saved different amounts for retirement. Individuals with income mostly made up of Social Security and savings smooth consumption over the pay period, while individuals without savings consume 25 percent fewer calories the week before they receive checks relative to the week afterwards. The findings for individuals without savings, who comprise about a fourth of our sample, are inconsistent with the standard Life Cycle-Permanent Income Hypothesis but are consistent with hyperbolic discounting. (JEL D14, E21, J26)

A special thanks goes to Jae Song, who provided the data, an initial benefit calculator, and also organized my first summer stay at the Social Security Administration.

We exploit exogenous variation in legal status following the January 2007 European Union enlargement to estimate its effect on immigrant crime. We difference out unobserved time-varying factors by i) comparing recidivism rates of immigrants from the "new" and "candidate" member countries; and ii) using arrest data on foreign detainees released upon a mass clemency that occurred in Italy in August 2006. The timing of the two events allows us to setup a difference-in-differences strategy. Legal status leads to a 50 percent reduction in recidivism, and explains one-half to two-thirds of the observed differences in crime rates between legal and illegal immigrants. JEL: F22, K42, C41