The effect on mental health of retiring during the economic crisis

Liudmila Antonova (), Michele Belloni, Elena Meschi and Giacomo Pasini
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Liudmila Antonova: Department of Economics, University of Venice C� Foscari

No 2015:10, Working Papers from Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari"

Abstract: This paper investigates the causal impact of retirement on late life depression, a growing concern for public health as major depressive disorders are the second leading cause of disability. We shed light on the role of economic conditions in shaping the effect of retirement on mental health by exploiting the time and regional variation in the severity of the economic crisis across ten European countries over the 2004-2013 period. We use data from four waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and address the potential endogeneity of retirement decision to mental health by applying a fixed-effect instrumental variable approach. Results indicate that retirement improves mental health of men, but not of women. This effect is stronger for those men working in regions that are severely hit by the economic crisis and in blue-collar jobs. These findings may be explained by the worsening of working conditions and the rise in job insecurity stemming from the economic downturn: In these circumstances, the exit from the labor force is perceived as a relief.

Keywords: depression; stress; retirement; crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J26 J28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-dem, nep-eur and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effect on Mental Health of Retiring During the Economic Crisis (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ven:wpaper:2015:10

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