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Does the Welfare State Make Older Workers Unemployable?

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  • Saint-Paul, Gilles

Abstract

This paper discusses the specificities of the labor market for older workers. It discusses the implications of those specificities for the effect of labor market institutions on the employability of those workers. It shows that while unemployment benefits indexed backwards and hiring costs are likely to harm these workers more than the average worker, the converse is true for employment protection, provided it is uniform across workers and not specifically higher for older workers. It provides some evidence on the impact of labor market institutions on older workers by comparing their outcome in the United States and France. It discusses how the welfare state can be reformed in order to improve outcomes for older workers.
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Suggested Citation

  • Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2009. "Does the Welfare State Make Older Workers Unemployable?," TSE Working Papers 09-066, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:21943
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hila Axelrad & Israel Luski & Miki Malul, 2017. "Reservation Wages and the Unemployment of Older Workers," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 206-227, June.
    2. V. Vandenberghe & F. Waltenberg & M. Rigo, 2013. "Ageing and employability. Evidence from Belgian firm-level data," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 111-136, August.
    3. Fredrik Heyman & Per Skedinger, 2016. "Employment Protection Reform, Enforcement in Collective Agreements and Worker Flows," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 662-704, October.
    4. Arnaud Chéron & Jean‐Olivier Hairault & François Langot, 2011. "Age‐Dependent Employment Protection," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(557), pages 1477-1504, December.
    5. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Seija Ilmakunnas, 2014. "Age segregation and hiring of older employees: low mobility revisited," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(8), pages 1090-1115, October.
    6. Ichino, Andrea & Schwerdt, Guido & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf & Zweimüller, Josef, 2017. "Too old to work, too young to retire?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 14-29.
    7. Nicole Bosch & Bas ter Weel, 2013. "Labour-Market Outcomes of Older Workers in the Netherlands: Measuring Job Prospects Using the Occupational Age Structure," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 199-218, June.
    8. Vincent Vandenberghe, 2011. "Introduction to De ECONOMIST Special Issue on “Ageing Workforces”," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 89-94, June.
    9. Rob Euwals, 2014. "The Labour Market for Older Workers: Mechanisms and Institutions," De Economist, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 309-313, December.
    10. Nicole Bosch & Bas ter Weel, 2013. "Labour-market outcomes of older workers in the Netherlands: Measuring job prospects using the occupational age structure," CPB Discussion Paper 234.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    11. Pierre-Jean Messe & Eva Moreno-Galbis & François-Charles Wolf, 2014. "Retirement intentions in the presence of technological change: Theory and evidence from France," TEPP Working Paper 2014-04, TEPP.
    12. Mareva Sabatier & Bérangère Legendre, 2017. "The puzzle of older workers’ employment: distance to retirement and health effects," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(1), pages 45-61, April.
    13. Ichino, Andrea & Schwerdt, Guido & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf & Zweimüller, Josef, 2013. "Too Old to Work, Too Young to Retire? Revised Version of Working Paper 220, Economics Series, October 2007," Economics Series 302, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    14. Böheim, Renè & Horvath, Gerard Thomas & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2011. "Great expectations: Past wages and unemployment durations," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 778-785.
    15. Stefan Boeters, 2014. "Age-Specific Labour Market Effects of Employment Protection - A numerical approach," CPB Discussion Paper 281.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    16. Stefan Boeters, 2016. "Age-Specific Labour Market Effects of Employment Protection: A Numerical Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 281-305, August.
    17. Y. Saks, 2014. "Employees: too expensive at 50? The age component in wage-setting," Economic Review, National Bank of Belgium, issue i, pages 61-74, June.
    18. Langot, François & Moreno-Galbis, Eva, 2013. "Does the growth process discriminate against older workers?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 286-306.
    19. Edward Lazear, 2011. "Wages, productivity, and retirement," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(1), pages 17-35, February.
    20. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Seija Ilmakunnas, 2011. "Hiring older employees: Do incentives of early retirement channels matter?," Working Papers 268, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    21. Vandenberghe, V., 2013. "Are firms willing to employ a greying and feminizing workforce?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 30-46.
    22. V. Vandenberghe, 2011. "Boosting the Employment Rate of Older Men and Women," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 159-191, June.
    23. Nicole Bosch & Bas ter Weel, 2013. "Labour-market outcomes of older workers in the Netherlands: Measuring job prospects using the occupational age structure," CPB Discussion Paper 234, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    24. Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2018. "The retirement age and the hiring of senior workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 247-270.
    25. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3tbgp7jdmr8h1qccuk9kiohoki is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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