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Equilibrium unemployment and retirement

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  • Hairault, Jean-Olivier
  • Langot, François
  • Zylberberg, André

Abstract

We first propose some new empirical evidence on the fact that the labor market conditions matter for the retirement decision at the individual level: we investigate whether unemployed workers retire before employed workers, other things being equal. Our main objective in this paper is then to propose an equilibrium unemployment approach to retirement decisions that allows us to derive the positive and normative features of retirement decisions when search and matching frictions are considered. Two main conclusions emerge: the retirement decision of unemployed workers depends on the labor-market frictions whereas that of employed workers does not; the existence of search externalities makes the retirement age of unemployed workers intrinsically suboptimal. Considering Social Security policy issues, we show that the complete elimination of the implicit tax on continued activity is not necessarily welfare-optimizing in a second best world where the labor market equilibrium suffers from distortions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hairault, Jean-Olivier & Langot, François & Zylberberg, André, 2015. "Equilibrium unemployment and retirement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 37-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:79:y:2015:i:c:p:37-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2015.07.002
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    1. Joydeep Bhattacharya & Casey B. Mulligan & Robert R. Reed, 2004. "Labor Market Search and Optimal Retirement Policy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(4), pages 560-571, October.
    2. Jean-Olivier Hairault & François Langot & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2010. "Distance to Retirement and The Job Search of Older Workers: The Case For Delaying Retirement Age," Post-Print hal-00517107, HAL.
    3. Arnaud Chéron & Jean-Olivier Hairault & François Langot, 2013. "Life-Cycle Equilibrium Unemployment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(4), pages 843-882.
    4. Guido Menzio & Irina Telyukova & Ludo Visschers, 2016. "Directed Search over the Life Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 19, pages 38-62, January.
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    14. Jean-Olivier Hairault & Francois Langot & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2010. "Distance to Retirement and Older Workers' Employment: The Case for Delaying the Retirement Age," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 8(5), pages 1034-1076, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Le Duigou, 2020. "Endogenous Unemployment Benefits in an Equilibrium Job Search Model over the Life-Cycle," Post-Print hal-03884234, HAL.
    2. Hairault, Jean-Olivier & Langot, François & Zylberberg, André, 2015. "Equilibrium unemployment and retirement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 37-58.
    3. Etienne Lalé, 2018. "Turbulence and the employment experience of older workers," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(2), pages 735-784, July.
    4. Dai, Tiantian & Fan, Hua & Liu, Xiangbo & Ma, Chao, 2022. "Delayed retirement policy and unemployment rates," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Bruno Decreuse & Guillaume Wilemme, 2019. "Age Discontinuity and Nonemployment Benefit Policy Evaluation through the Lens of Job Search Theory," Working Papers halshs-02072800, HAL.
    6. Leora Friedberg & Michael T. Owyang & Wei Sun & Anthony Webb, 2017. "How Do Local Labor Markets Affect Retirement?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 99(3), pages 259-278.
    7. Kerndler, Martin, 2016. "Contracting frictions and inefficient layoffs of older workers," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145711, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. Bi, Sheng & Langot, François, 2014. "Search and Retirement under Asymmetric Information," IZA Discussion Papers 8288, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Search; Matching; Retirement; Social Security;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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