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Early Retirement: Free Choice or Forced Decision

Author

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  • David Dorn
  • Alfonso Sousa-Poza

Abstract

Early retirement is usually explained as a supply-side phenomenon. However, early retirement can also be a demand-side phenomenon arising from a firm's profit maximization behavior. This paper analyzes voluntary and involuntary early retirement based on international microdata covering 19 industrialized countries. The results indicate that generous early retirement provisions of the social security system do not only make voluntary early retirement more attractive for individuals, but also induce firms to encourage more employees to retire early. In particular, firms seem to use early retirement to reduce staff during economic recessions and as a means to circumvent employment protection legislation.

Suggested Citation

  • David Dorn & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2005. "Early Retirement: Free Choice or Forced Decision," CESifo Working Paper Series 1542, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1542
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marjan Maes, 2013. "Poverty persistence among the elderly in the transition from work to retirement," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(1), pages 35-56, March.
    2. Marjan, MAES, 2008. "Poverty persistence among Belgian elderly in the transition from work to retirement : an empirical analysis," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2008042, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    3. Bellmann, Lutz & Janik, Florian, 2007. "Firms and Early Retirement: Offers That One Does Not Refuse," IZA Discussion Papers 2931, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Werner Eichhorst & Tito Boeri & Michela Braga & An de Coen & Galasso Vicenzo & Maarten Gerard & Michael J. Kendzia & Christine Mayrhuber & Jakob Louis Pedersen & Ricarda Schmidl & Nadia Steiber, 2013. "Combining the Entry of Young People in the Labour Market with the Retention of Older Workers," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46988, Juni.
    5. Freudenberg, Christoph & Laub, Natalie & Sutor, Tim, 2018. "Pension decrement rates across Europe – Are they too low?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 35-45.
    6. Kai Konrad & Stergios Skaperdas, 2012. "The market for protection and the origin of the state," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 50(2), pages 417-443, June.
    7. Maes, Marjan, 2008. "Does the dismantlement of early retirement schemes increase unemployment in Belgium?," Working Papers 2008/57, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    8. Maes, Marjan, 2008. "Poverty persistence among Belgian elderly: true or spurious?," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Daniel Hallberg & Matias Eklöf, 2010. "Do buy‐outs of older workers matter?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(3), pages 337-359, June.
    10. Tito Boeri & Jan van Ours, 2013. "The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets: Second Edition," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10142.
    11. Casas, Pablo & Román, Concepción, 2023. "Early retired or automatized? Evidence from the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    early retirement; involuntary early retirement; social security; pensions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • 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

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