Understanding the effect of retirement on health using Regression Discontinuity Design

Peter Eibich

Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers from HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York

Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effect of retirement on health, health behavior, and healthcare utilization. Using Regression Discontinuity Design to exploit financial incentives in the German pension system for identification, I investigate a wide range of health behaviors (e.g. alcohol and tobacco consumption, physical activity, diet and sleep) as potential mechanisms. The results show a long-run improvement in health upon retirement. Relief from work-related stress, increased sleep duration and more frequent physical exercise seem to be key mechanisms through which retirement affects health. Moreover, the improvement in health caused by retirement leads to a reduction in healthcare utilization.

Keywords: retirement; health; regression dicontinuity design; health behavior; healthcare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J14 J26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Understanding the Effect of Retirement on Health Using Regression Discontinuity Design (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:yor:hectdg:14/10

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