Early Retirement: Free Choice or Forced Decision

Early retirement is usually explained as a supply-side phenomenon. However, early retirement can also be a demand-side phenomenon arising from a firm's profit maximization behavior. This paper analyzes voluntary and involuntary early retirement based on international microdata covering 19 industrialized countries. The results indicate that generous early retirement provisions of the social security system do not only make voluntary early retirement more attractive for individuals, but also induce firms to encourage more employees to retire early. In particular, firms seem to use early retirement to reduce staff during economic recessions and as a means to circumvent employment protection legislation.early retirement, involuntary early retirement, social security, pensions

How does income inequality influence international migration?

The increasing importance of highly-skilled migration in times of so-called ?skills shortages? is leading to a growing interest in the determinants and characteristics of highly-skilled migration. However, migration theory with regard to the highly-skilled is not well developed. An important strand of literature that clearly serves for the derivation of empirically testable hypotheses about the determinants of particular types of migrants is self-selection theory. This theory dates back to Roy (1951) and has been adopted by Borjas (1987) for the analysis of the relation between the income distribution and the skills of migrants. He concludes that a relatively more equal income distribution in the host country vis-à-vis the source country leads to a negative self-selection of migrants (i.e. the lowly-skilled will be particularly attracted) and vice versa. Borjas has confirmed this hypothesis with data on immigration to the US. Chiswick (1999) and others, however, have questioned these results. Sample-selection biases may arise in single-country analyses and in all studies based on host-country data, due to the impact of host-country specifics such as migration policy, network migration, and the like. Due to a lack of internationally comparable data, however, international empirical studies with data from the origin countries have not been undertaken to resolve the dispute between Borjas and Chiswick. Furthermore, data on the intentions to emigrate (as opposed to actual migration data) has the distinct advantage of being free from the above-mentioned selection-bias problem. This paper sheds some new light on the self-selection controversy by analysing the relationship between country-specific emigration propensities and each country?s score on the Gini-Index on inequality. The 1995 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) conducted a survey on national identity, which gathers the necessary data in a rich international microdata set. We run probit-regressions with two samples, one including all surveyed persons and one including only the sub-sample of the highly-skilled. By relying on the Gini index as a proxy for wage inequality, the paper follows Borjas? (1987) approach. Borjas, however, proxies skills differentials by income differentials. Chiswick (1999) argues that these two differentials may only be poorly related. The analysis presented here partly avoids this criticism, as we compare the sub-sample of highly-skilled persons with all surveyed individuals and with the medium- and lowly-skilled. A strong positive correlation between skills and income, as predicted by standard economic theory, therefore suffices for the validity of our approach. The main result of this paper is that, ceteris paribus, a more egalitarian income distribution is associated with lower emigration propensities, while income inequality does not have any impact on the emigration propensities of particularly highly-skilled persons. These results seem to contradict Borjas? prediction that the highly-skilled should be particularly attracted by countries which have relatively high returns to skills. Thus, our analysis is more in line with the arguments put forward by Chiswick (1999) and others.

Work Hours Constraints and Health

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers´ health. In particular, we show that "overemployment" - working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health.Work time, hours constraints, health, Germany, United Kingdom

Work hours constraints and health

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers' health. In particular, we show that overemployment - working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health. --work time,hours constraints,health, Germany,United Kingdom

Ageing, Health and Life Satisfaction of the Oldest Old: An Analysis for Germany

This analysis uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to assess the effect of ageing and health on the life satisfaction of the oldest old (defined as 75 and older). We observe a U-shaped relationship between age and levels of life satisfaction for individuals aged between 16 and approximately 65. Thereafter, life satisfaction declines rapidly and the lowest absolute levels of life satisfaction are recorded for the oldest old. This decline is primarily attributable to low levels of perceived health. Once cohort effects are also controlled for, life satisfaction remains relatively constant across the lifespan.life satisfaction, oldest old, health

The Effect of Pension Generosity on Early Retirement: A Microdata Analysis for Europe from 1967 to 2004.

Using pseudo-panel microdata we show that pension generosity affects early retirement decisions. The changes in the average replacement rate and decreases in wealth accrual between 1967 and 2004 have caused an increase in early retirement probabilities from 16% to 63%.Early Retirement; Pension Systems; Pension Neutrality; Pension Generosity; SHARE.

HYPERTENSION AND LIFE SATISFACTION: A COMMENT AND REPLICATION OF BLANCHFLOWER AND OSWALD (2007)

This study examines the relationship between hypertension and life satisfaction using objective measures of hypertension from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Our results confirm the analysis in Blanchflower and Oswald (2007): there is a significant negative correlation between high blood-pressure problems and life satisfaction.Hypertension, blood pressure, life satisfaction

Voluntary' and 'Involuntary' early retirement: an international analysis

Recent literature makes a distinction between 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' early retirement, where 'involuntary' early retirement results from employment constraints rather than from a preference for leisure relative to work. This paper analyzes 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' early retirement based on international microdata covering 19 industrialized countries. The results show that 'involuntary' early retirement is particularly widespread in Continental Europe. Countries facing economic recessions and having strict employment protection legislation have higher shares of 'involuntary' retirements among early retirees. Generous early retirement provisions of the social security system do not only make 'voluntary' early retirement more attractive for individuals, but also induce firms to push more employees into early retirement

Job insecurity, employability, and health : an analysis for germany across generations

In this paper, we use 12 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel to examine the relationship between job insecurity, employability and health-related well-being. Our results indicate that being unemployed has a strong negative effect on life satisfaction and health. They also, however, highlight the fact that this effect is most prominent among individuals over the age of 40. A second observation is that job insecurity is also associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and health, and this association is quite strong. This negative effect of job insecurity is, in many cases, exacerbated by poor employability

Introduction to Special Issue of the European Journal of Population: ‘Economic Consequences of Low Fertility in Europe'

This special issue of the European Journal of Population focuses on possible economic consequences of low fertility in Europe. This introduction reviews the history of falling fertility in Europe and the literature that explores its causes, its potential implications, and possible policy responses. It also summarizes the evolution of thinking about the relationship between population growth and economic development, with attention to recent work on the mechanisms through which fertility decline can spur economic growth if the necessary supporting conditions are met. The introduction also identifies some of the challenges of population ageing that are associated with low fertility and suggests that there may be less reason for alarm than has been suggested by some observers. The articles that appear in this special issue are also summarize