Defining, Measuring, and Benchmarking Administrative Expenditures of Mandatory Social Security Programs

This study provides a framework for comparison and benchmarking of administrative expenditures of public and private social security programs. The paper presents the genesis of the inquiries into the subject, reviewing some of the most relevant literature on administrative expenditures and the costs of mandatory programs produced over the past two decades. The quantitative analysis builds on the extensive body of literature, but our framework evolved considerably from earlier studies. The dataset includes over 100 observations and a broad set of explanatory variables. The analysis explains over 90 percent of variation in administrative expenditures. It confirms some of the hypotheses expressed in the earlier studies and presents new evidence of driving factors for costs