Active Ageing Beyond the Labour Market: Evidence on Work Environment Motivations

Catherine Pollak and Nicolas Sirven ()
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Nicolas Sirven: IRDES Institute for research and information in health economics

No DT48, Working Papers from IRDES institut for research and information in health economics

Abstract: “Active Ageing” strategies aim to foster the participation of seniors in the society. Although economic literature has extensively studied the incentives for seniors to increase their labour supply, little is known about the motivations for older people to complement labour with other forms of social participation. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, this article provides empirical evidence of the motivational role of the work environment in the supply of formal and informal productive activities of 50 to 65 year old workers. The results show that intrinsic rewards received at work, such as skill development opportunities and decision latitude, form an incentive for older workers to invest time in social activities outside the labour market. Extrinsic rewards on the other hand, like advancement perspectives, job security and pay, appear independent from non-market outcomes. Therefore, the opportunity for work time arrangements but also intrinsic rewards in the work environment should be developed if one aims to foster participation of older workers in the society.

Keywords: Labour supply; Job quality; Social capital; Informal care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C35 J14 J22 J81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2012-05, Revised 2012-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-eur, nep-hrm, nep-iue and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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