Lifetime earnings and life expectancy

Hans-Martin von Gaudecker and Rembrandt D. Scholz
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Rembrandt D. Scholz: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

No WP-2006-008, MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Abstract: We estimate remaining life expectancy at age 65 using a very large sample of male German pensioners. Our analysis is entirely nonparametric. Furthermore, the data enable us to compare life expectancy in eastern and western Germany conditional on a measure of socio-economic status. Our findings show a lower bound of almost fifty percent (six years) on the difference in remaining life expectancy between the lowest and the highest socio-economic group considered. Within groups, we find similar values for East and West. Our analysis contributes to the literature in several aspects. First, Germany is clearly underrepresented in differential mortality studies. Second, we are able to use a novel measure of lifetime earnings as a proxy for socio-economic status that remains valid for retired people. Third, the comparison of eastern and western Germany may provide some interesting insights for transformation countries.

Keywords: Germany; life expectancy; pensioners; socio-economic differentials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2006
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Lifetime Earnings and Life Expectancy (2006)
Working Paper: Lifetime earnings and life expectancy (2006)
Working Paper: Lifetime Earnings and Life Expectancy (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2006-008

DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2006-008

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