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Elderly Labor Supply: Work or Play?

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Author Info
Steven Haider
David Loughran

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Abstract

Approximately 15 percent of individuals over the age of 65 are employed. Due to the apparent reversal in the trend toward early retirement and the aging of the U.S. population, these individuals are becoming an increasingly important part of the labor force. However, very little research has examined labor market behavior in this population. In this paper, the authors examine a series of questions in an attempt to better understand why the elderly continue to work. The results indicate that labor supply is concentrated among the most educated, wealthiest, and healthiest elderly. Despite this, the authors find that the wages of the elderly are low both relative to younger populations and relative to the wages they earned when they themselves were young. Among individuals over the age of 70, the authors find that changes in health status dominate labor market transitions. Overall, the findings suggest that non-pecuniary considerations play an important role in determining elderly labor supply decisions.

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Paper provided by RAND Corporation Publications Department in its series Working Papers with number 01-09.

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Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2001
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Handle: RePEc:ran:wpaper:01-09

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
  1. Mary C. Daly & John Bound, 1995. "Worker Adaptation and Employer Accommodation Following the Onset of a Health Impairment," NBER Working Papers 5169, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card, 2000. "How Did the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement Affect Faculty Retirement?," Working Papers 827, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
  3. John Bound & Michael Schoenbaum & Todd R. Stinebrickner & Timothy Waidmann, 1998. "The Dynamic Effects of Health on the Labor Force Transitions of Older Workers," NBER Working Papers 6777, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Robin L. Lumsdaine & James H. Stock & David A. Wise, 1996. "Why Are Retirement Rates So High at Age 65?," NBER Chapters, in: Advances in the Economics of Aging, pages 61-82 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Joseph F. Quinn, 1999. "Has the Early Retirement Trend Reversed?," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 424, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card, 2002. "Did the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement Affect Faculty Retirement?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 957-980, September. [Downloadable!]
  7. David Neumark & Wendy A. Stock, 1999. "Age Discrimination Laws and Labor Market Efficiency," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(5), pages 1081-1110, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. repec:fth:prinin:448 is not listed on IDEAS
  9. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1990. "Bridge Jobs and Partial Retirement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(4), pages 482-501, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Jonathan Gruber & Peter Orszag, 2000. "Does the Social Security Earnings Test Affect Labor Supply and Benefits Receipt?," NBER Working Papers 7923, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Blau, David M, 1994. "Labor Force Dynamics of Older Men," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(1), pages 117-56, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Lundberg, Shelly J, 1985. "Tied Wage-Hours Offers and the Endogeneity of Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 405-10, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card, 2001. "Did the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement Affect Faculty Retirement Flows?," NBER Working Papers 8378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Hurd, Michael D, 1990. "Research on the Elderly: Economic Status, Retirement, and Consumption and Saving," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 565-637, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Hugo Benitez-Silva, 2000. "Micro Determinants of Labor Force Status Among Older Americans," Department of Economics Working Papers 00-07, Stony Brook University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Dickens, William T & Lundberg, Shelly J, 1993. "Hours Restrictions and Labor Supply," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 34(1), pages 169-92, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Michael Hurd & Kathleen McGarry, 1993. "The Relationship Between Job Characteristics and Retirement," NBER Working Papers 4558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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.)

  1. Lynn A. Karoly & Julie Zissmopoulos, 2003. "Self-Employment Trends and Patterns Among Older U.S. Workers," Working Papers 136, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
  2. Calvo, Esteban & Haverstick, Kelly & Sass, Steven, 2007. "What Makes Retirees Happier: A Gradual or 'Cold Turkey' Retirement?," MPRA Paper 5607, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. John Janssen, 2002. "Long-term fiscal projections and their relationship with the intertemporal budget constraint: An application to New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 02/05, New Zealand Treasury. [Downloadable!]
  4. Karen Leppel, 2005. "Labor force plans and labor force status," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 12(8), pages 173-196, April. [Downloadable!]
  5. Julie Zissimopoulos & Lynn A. Karoly, 2003. "Transitions to Self-Employment at Older Ages: The Role of Wealth, Health, Health Insurance, and Other Factors," Working Papers 135, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Nick Adnett & Stephen Hardy, 2007. "The peculiar case of age discrimination: Americanising the European social model?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 29-41, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Alicia H. Munnell & Steven A. Sass, 2007. "The Labor Supply of Older Americans," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2007-12, Center for Retirement Research, revised Jun 2007. [Downloadable!]
  8. Steven J. Haider & David S. Loughran, 2003. "How Important Are Wages to the Elderly? Evidence from the New Beneficiary Data System and the Social Security Earnings Test," Working Papers wp049, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
  9. Alan L. Gustman & Thomas L. Steinmeier, 2004. "Minimum Hours Constraints, Job Requirements and Retirement," NBER Working Papers 10876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Lucie Schmidt & Purvi Sevak, 2006. "Taxes, Wages, and the Labor Supply of Older Americans," Working Papers wp139, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Tunga Kantarci & Arthur Soest, 2008. "Gradual Retirement: Preferences and Limitations," De Economist, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 113-144, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Richard Johnson, 2002. "The puzzle of later male retirement," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, issue Q III, pages 5-26. [Downloadable!]
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