The Impact of Health on Individual Retirement Plans: a Panel Analysis comparing Selfreported versus Diagnostic Measures

Earlier studies have concluded that the use of self-reported health in retirement models is likely to yield an unreliable impact of health on retirement due to “justification bias”. A few recent studies based on younger cohorts approaching retirement age have found little support for this hypothesis. This paper adds fresh evidence to this debate by considering the effect of health on retirement plans in samples of older workers and retirees drawn from a Danish panel survey from 1997-2002 merged to longitudinal register data. Using a wide array of alternative health measures, we compare the role of subjectively versus objectively measured health as a determinant of retirement planning. We control for unobserved heterogeneity as well as account for endogeneity and measurement error of health in retirement, and estimate separate models for women as well as men. As in the more studies, justification bias turns out not to be important. Self-rated physical and mental health are important predictors of retirement planning, in fact more important than economic factors, both among men as well as women. At a disaggregated level, back problems and myalgia significantly hasten male retirement, while back problems, osteoporosis and depression are conditions that significantly affect retirement among women. Retirement planning is in general unaffected by being hospitalised for a serious condition. Looking at health changes strengthens the conclusion that health is an important factor in retirement planning. In fact, health shocks seem to increase the propensity to retire earlier. However, health seems to be less important for retirement planning in Denmark compared to the US.Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

Health Shocks and Retirement: The Role of Welfare State Institutions

We investigate the effect of an acute health shock on retirement among elderly male workers in Denmark, 1991-1999, and in particular whether various welfare state programs and institutions impinge on the retirement effect. The results show that an acute health event increases the retirement chances of elderly male workers by 8%, and that this increase in the baseline retirement probability is not affected by eligibility to early exit programs and persists even after accounting for selection due to take-up of disability pension. Neither is it affected by the relatively long duration of sickness benefits in Denmark nor by the promotion of corporate social responsibility initiatives since the mid-1990s. In the late 1990s, however, the retirement rate following a health shock is reduced to 3% with the introduction of the subsidized employment program (fleksjob) but this effect is on the margin of being significant. For the most part, the retirement effect following a health shock seems to be immune to the availability of a multitude of government programs for older workers in Denmark.retirement, health shocks, welfare state programs, medical diagnoses

The Effect of an Acute Health Shock on Work Behavior: Evidence from Different Health Care Regimes

We study how severe acute health shocks affect the probability of not working in the U. S. versus in Denmark. The results not only provide insight into how relative disease risk affects labor force participation at older ages, but also into how different types of health care and health insurance systems affect individual decisions of labor force participation. We find that the effect of an acute health shock on labor force participation is stronger in the U.S. than in Denmark, and provide compelling evidence that this is the result of health care system-related differential mortality and baseline health differences.health shock, health care regimes, work

The 'Brain Drain' of physicians: historical antecedents to an ethical debate, c. 1960–79

Many western industrialized countries are currently suffering from a crisis in health human resources, one that involves a debate over the recruitment and licensing of foreign-trained doctors and nurses. The intense public policy interest in foreign-trained medical personnel, however, is not new. During the 1960s, western countries revised their immigration policies to focus on highly-trained professionals. During the following decade, hundreds of thousands of health care practitioners migrated from poorer jurisdictions to western industrialized countries to solve what were then deemed to be national doctor and nursing 'shortages' in the developed world. Migration plummeted in the 1980s and 1990s only to re-emerge in the last decade as an important debate in global health care policy and ethics. This paper will examine the historical antecedents to this ethical debate. It will trace the early articulation of the idea of a 'brain drain', one that emerged from the loss of NHS doctors to other western jurisdictions in the 1950s and 1960s. Only over time did the discussion turn to the 'manpower' losses of 'third world countries', but the inability to track physician migration, amongst other variables, muted any concerted ethical debate. By contrast, the last decade's literature has witnessed a dramatically different ethical framework, informed by globalization, the rise of South Africa as a source donor country, and the ongoing catastrophe of the AIDS epidemic. Unlike the literature of the early 1970s, recent scholarship has focussed on a new framework of global ethics

Three Types of IT Use

Existing research identifies multiple types of uses, ranging from initial adoption of technology to uses that have been described by terms like adaptive system use, enhanced use, etc. Additionally, literature shows that researchers have used different instruments when using similar terms. Together, the lack of understanding of different types of use and the lack of coherent measures for use leads to construct validity problems. In this paper we aim to distinguish between the different types of uses, followed by isolating the key measurement items for each use type. The paper uses a modified Q-sort method to classify the different use measurement items. Findings indicate that there are three types of uses and distinct measurements. This study lays important groundwork for future research into the three types of use and is a first step in creating scales for these use constructs

Assistance in Dying: A Comparative Look at Legal Definitions

Euthanasia, assisted suicide, medical assistance in dying, death with dignity: these and many other different terms are used around the world to capture various types of assistance in dying. This diversity in terminology can create confusion both in academic debates and in policy-making if it is unclear what type of action or inaction is intended to be captured, by whom, and under what circumstances. By defining and contrasting several terms and legal status of assistance in dying in jurisdictions authorizing it, this comparative glossary aims to lay a foundation that prevents linguistic and conceptual confusion

Role of amnioinfusion in meconium stained liquor in relation to fetal outcome

Background: Meconium aspiration syndrome complicates 1.7 to 35.8% of deliveries. The meconium aspiration syndrome is believed to result from aspiration of meconium during intrauterine gasping or at the time of first breath. Transcervical infusion of saline into amniotic cavity or amnioinfusion has been proposed as a method to reduce the risk of the meconium aspiration syndrome.Methods: The study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and gynecology in collaboration with the department of paediatrics, Era’s Lucknow Medical College, Lucknow, India in the study period of 18 months. It was a prospective case control study. A total number of 80 patients were enrolled for the purpose of study. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. Control group (n=40) those who received standard treatment (i.e. labor analgesia, maternal nutrition and record of progress of labor) and Study group (n=40) patients who were managed by giving amnioinfusion in addition to the standard treatment. Both groups were compared in terms of fetal outcome. Data so obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using statistical package for Social Science Version 15.0.Results: Majority of babies of control group (n=22, 55%) have Apgar score at 1 minute was <7 whereas majority of babies born to mothers of study group (n=27, 67.5%) have apgar scores at 1 minute was ≥7.    Resuscitative measures were required in majority of control group babies (n=22, 55%) as compared to only 13 (32.5%) babies of study group. Meconium aspiraton syndrome was present in 12 babies (30%) of control group as compared to only 4 babies (10%) of study group. Rate of neonatal death was higher in control group (5%) as compared to study group (2.5%). A total of 25 (62.5%) babies required NICU admission in control group and 15 (37.5) babies in study group.Conclusions: The findings in present study indicates that aminoinfusion in a well-equipped tertiary care unit reduces the rate of caesarean section significantly while at the same time influences the neonatal outcome in terms of better Apgar score, reduced need of resuscitative measures and reduced neonatal morbidity