The free movement of services within the EU

Intra-European trade in services is hampered by national regulatory differences for service markets. The European Commission has proposed a new directive to overcome these regulatory barriers. This document assesses the effects of this new directive on trade and investment in services. Read also the accompanying press release .We have developed an index for bilateral heterogeneity in product-market regulation, and apply it to the OECD Regulation Database. We show that the heterogeneity in regulation hampers bilateral service trade in the EU, and also bilateral direct investment. We investigate how the proposed EU directive could lower the intra-EU heterogeneity in product market regulation for services, and what effect this would have on bilateral trade and investment in the Internal Market for services. We find that commercial services trade in the EU might increase by 15-30%, while the foreign direct investment stock in services might rise by 20-35%.

Shattered Dreams: The Effects of Changing the Pension System Late in the Game

This paper assesses the impact of a dramatic reform of the Dutch pension system on mental health, savings behavior and retirement expectations of workers nearing retirement age. The reform means that public sector workers born on January 1, 1950 or later face a substantial reduction in their pension rights while workers born before this threshold date may still retire under the old, more generous rules. We employ a unique matched survey and administrative data set comprising male public sector workers born in 1949 and 1950 and find strong ex ante effects on mental health for workers who are affected by the reform. This effect increases as birth dates approach the threshold date. Furthermore, the effects differ in accordance with worker characteristics. Finally, we find that the response of those affected by the reform is to work longer and to save more.mental health, retirement, pension reform, causal effect

The effects of pension rights and retirement age on training participation: Evidence from a natural experiment

This paper uses a natural experiment approach to identify the effects of an exogenouschange in future pension benefits on workers’ training participation. We use uniquematched survey and administrative data for male employees in the Dutch public sectorwho were born in 1949 or 1950. Only the latter were subject to a major pension reformthat diminished their pension rights. We find that this exogenous shock to pension rightspostpones expected retirement and increases participation in training courses amongolder employees, although exclusively for those employed in large organizations.education, training and the labour market;

Training Background and Early Retirement

Several studies show that employees with firm-specific skills are more likely to be covered by employer-sponsored pension schemes than workers with general skills. Therefore it can be expected that workers with firm-specific skills retire earlier. This paper tests this prediction using US data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men. We find that workers who participated in firm-specific training in their early careers retire earlier than workers with a general training background. This indicates that shared investments in firm-specific training are embedded in implicit contracts that induce early retirement. The results remain robust when controlling for technological change and work commitment.retirement, training, deferred compensation

Intra-EU trade and investment in service sectors, and regulation patterns

One of the achievements of the of the European Union (EU) is the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour between the member states. The internal market for goods seems to function well, after the implementation of the Single Market programme in 1988. That is however not the case for the internal market in services. Many providers experience impediments if they want to export their services to other EU member states, or in setting up an foreign establishment. The EC (2002) has concluded that these impediments are often caused by national, regional and/or local regulation, to which the service providers, the service or the foreign subsidiary has to comply. The present report forms a background report for CPB Document 69 that is published jointly with this research memorandum. The project focus is on quantifying the potential impact of newly proposed EU measures for the European internal service market.

Shattered Dreams: The Effects of Changing the Pension System Late in the Game

This paper assesses the impact of a dramatic reform of the Dutch pension system on mental health, savings behavior and retirement expectations of workers nearing retirement age. The reform means that public sector workers born on January 1, 1950 or later face a substantial reduction in their pension rights while workers born before this threshold date may still retire under the old, more generous rules. We employ a unique matched survey and administrative data set comprising male public sector workers born in 1949 and 1950 and find strong ex ante effects on mental health for workers who are affected by the reform. This effect increases as birth dates approach the threshold date. Furthermore, the effects differ in accordance with worker characteristics. Finally, we find that the response of those affected by the reform is to work longer and to save more.1.education, training and the labour market;

The Effects of Pension Rights and Retirement Age on Training Participation: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

This paper uses a natural experiment approach to identify the effects of an exogenous change in future pension benefits on workers' training participation. We use unique matched survey and administrative data for male employees in the Dutch public sector who were born in 1949 or 1950. Only the latter were subject to a major pension reform that diminished their pension rights. We find that this exogenous shock to pension rights postpones expected retirement and increases participation in training courses among older employees, although exclusively for those employed in large organizations.natural experiment, retirement, training

The effects of pension rights and retirement age on training participation: Evidence from a natural experiment

This paper uses a natural experiment approach to identify the effects of an exogenous change in future pension benefits on workers'' training participation. We use unique matched survey and administrative data for male employees in the Dutch public sector who were born in 1949 or 1950. Only the latter were subject to a major pension reform that diminished their pension rights. We find that this exogenous shock to pension rights postpones expected retirement and increases participation in training courses among older employees, although exclusively for those employed in large organizations.labour economics ;

Training and early Retirement

In this paper we analyze how retirement behavior is affected by a worker’s firm-specific or general training history. Using US data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men and controlling for the effects of technological change and workers’ retirement preferences, we find that workers with a firm-specific training history retire earlier than workers with a general training background. This indicates that shared investments in firm-specific training are embedded in upward sloping earning profiles that create productivity-wage differentials for older workers.education, training and the labour market;

Dreams: The Effects of Changing the Pension System Late in the Game

This paper assesses the impact of a dramatic reform of the Dutch pension system on mental health, savings behavior and retirement expectations of workers nearing retirement age. The reform means that public sector workers born on January 1, 1950 or later face a substantial reduction in their pension rights while workers born before this threshold date may still retire under the old, more generous rules. We employ a unique matched survey and administrative data set comprising male public sector workers born in 1949 and 1950 and find strong ex ante effects on mental health for workers who are affected by the reform. This effect increases as birth dates approach the threshold date. Furthermore, the effects differ in accordance with worker characteristics. Finally, we find that the response of those affected by the reform is to work longer and to save more.labour economics ;