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The Effect of Benefit Reductions on the Retirement Age: The Heterogeneous Response of Manual and Non‐Manual Workers

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  • Matthias Giesecke

Abstract

I estimate the effect of benefit reductions on the timing of retirement. The introduction of actuarial adjustments in the German public pension system serves as a source of exogenous variation to estimate discrete time transition rates into retirement for individuals of age 60–66. Responses to benefit reductions are elaborated separately for manual and non‐manual workers. On average, individuals postpone retirement by 13.2 months if pension benefits are reduced by 3.6 percent for each year of early retirement. This result is in line with the previous quasi‐experimental literature and suggests that people respond to the incentive of reducing the implicit tax on further periods of work. However, among men the response is about 50 percent lower for manual workers compared to non‐manual workers. Surprisingly, this does not necessarily indicate that retirement incomes of manual workers deteriorate. The explanation is that disability pensions are available at age 63—without benefit reductions.

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  • Matthias Giesecke, 2018. "The Effect of Benefit Reductions on the Retirement Age: The Heterogeneous Response of Manual and Non‐Manual Workers," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(1), pages 213-238, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:64:y:2018:i:1:p:213-238
    DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12257
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    2. Laub, Natalie & Boockmann, Bernhard & Kroczek, Martin, 2023. "Tightening Access to Early Retirement: Who Can Adapt?," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277625, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Riphahn, Regina T. & Schrader, Rebecca, 2023. "Reforms of an early retirement pathway in Germany and their labor market effects," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 304-330, July.
    4. Giesecke, Matthias, 2019. "The retirement mortality puzzle: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Ruhr Economic Papers 800, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Regina T. Riphahn & Rebecca Schrader, 2020. "Labor market effects of early retirement reforms," Working Papers 199, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    6. Zwick, Thomas & Bruns, Mona & Geyer, Johannes & Lorenz, Svenja, 2022. "Early retirement of employees in demanding jobs: Evidence from a German pension reform," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    7. Bernhard Boockmann & Martin Kroczek & Natalie Laub, 2023. "Tightening access to early retirement: who can adapt?," IAW Discussion Papers 142, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    8. Jäger, Philipp & Giesecke, Matthias, 2019. "Pension Incentives and Labor Force Participation: Evidence from the Introduction of Universal Old-Age Assistance in the UK," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203498, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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