We provide a long-term perspective on the individual retirement behaviour and on the future of early retirement. In a cross-country sample, we find that total pension spending depends positively on the degree of early retirement and on the share of elderly in the population, which increase the proportion of retirees, but has hardly any effect on the per capita pension benefits. We show that in a Markovian political economic theoretical framework, in which incentives to retire early are embedded, a political equilibrium is characterized by an increasing sequence of social security contribution rates converging to a steady state and early retirement. Comparative statistics suggest that aging and productivity slow-downs lead to higher taxes and more early retirement. However, when income effects are factored in, the model suggests that periods of stagnation – characterized by decreasing labour income – may lead middle-aged individuals to postpone retirement.
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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number
4863.
J. Ignacio Conde-Ruiz & Vincenzo Galasso & Paola Profeta, 2005.
"The Evolution of Retirement,"
Working Papers
278, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Models of Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
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John Hassler & José V. Rodríguez Mora & Kjetil Storesletten & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2001.
"The Survival of the Welfare State,"
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Hassler, John & Mora, Jose & Storesletten, Kjetil & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2002.
"The Survival of the Welfare State,"
Seminar Papers
704, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
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John Hassler & José V. Rodríguez Mora & Kjetil Storesletten & Abrizio Zilibotti, 2003.
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American Economic Review,
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Gonzales-Eiras, Martín & Niepelt, Dirk, 2004.
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Seminar Papers
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J. Ignacio Conde-Ruiz & Vincenzo Galasso, 2003.
"Early Retirement,"
Review of Economic Dynamics,
Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 6(1), pages 12-36, January.
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Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)
Juan Antonio Lacomba & Francisco Miguel Lagos, 2005.
"Population Aging and Legal Retirement Age,"
ThE Papers
05/16, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
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