The Effect of Health Changes and Long-term Health on the Work Activity of Older Canadians

Doreen Wing Han Au, Thomas Crossley () and Martin Schellhorn

Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers from McMaster University

Abstract: Using longitudinal data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS), we study the relationship between health and employment among older Canadians. We focus on two issues: (1) the possible problems with self-reported health, including endogeneity and measurement error, and (2) the relative importance of health changes and long-term health in the decision to work. We contrast estimates of the impact of health on employment using self- assessed health, an objective health index contained in the NPHS - the HUI3, and a "purged" health stock measure. Our results suggest that health has an economically significant effect on employment probabilities for Canadian men and women aged 50 to 64, and that this effect is underestimated by simple estimates based on self- assessed health. We also corroborate recent U.S. and U.K. findings that changes in health are important in the work decision.

Keywords: health; health changes; employment; older workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2005-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-hrm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (60)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The effect of health changes and long‐term health on the work activity of older Canadians (2005)
Working Paper: The Effect of Health Changes and Long-term Health on the Work Activity of Older Canadians (2005)
Working Paper: The Effect of Health Changes and Long-Term Health on the Work Activity of Older Canadians (2004)
Working Paper: The Effect of Health Changes and Long-term Health on the Work Activity of Older Canadians (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mcm:sedapp:134

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