Fatal Attraction? Access to Early Retirement and Mortality

Zweimüller, Josef, Jean-Philippe Wuellrich and Andreas Kuhn
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Josef Zweimüller

No 8024, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We estimate the causal e ffect of early retirement on mortality for blue-collar workers. To overcome the problem of endogenous selection, we exploit an exogenous change in unemployment insurance rules in Austria that allowed workers in eligible regions to withdraw from the workforce up to 3.5 years earlier than those in non-eligible regions. For males, instrumental-variable estimates show a significant 2.4 percentage points (about 13%) increasein the probability of dying before age 67. We do not find any adverse effect early retirement onmortality for females. Death causes indicate a significantly higher incidence of cardiovascular disorders among eligible workers, suggesting that changes in health-related behavior explain increased mortality among male early retirees.

Keywords: Endogeneity; Health behavior; Instrumental variable; Mortality; Premature death; Early retirement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 J14 J26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (48)

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Working Paper: Fatal Attraction? Access to Early Retirement and Mortality (2010)
Working Paper: Fatal Attraction? Access to Early Retirement and Mortality (2010)
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