NB21-02: The Impact of Biomedical Innovation on Disability and Retirement

This project analyzes the long-run impact of biomedical innovation on the number of Americans receiving Social Security disability and retirement benefits, the number who are unable to work due to illness or disability, and other disability and retirement indicators over the period 1994-2017. The hypothesis underlying the analysis is that biomedical innovation leads to improved health outcomes which in turn reduce disability and early retirement due to poor health. To test this hypothesis, we investigate whether people with medical conditions that have had more biomedical innovation also have larger declines in disability and early retirement.