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Is it Better to Work When We Are Older? An Empirical Comparison Between France and Great Britain

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Abstract

Classical literature uses the cross-sectional age-earnings profile to describe how the earnings evolve over the life cycle. Using a cohort analysis, I argue that this interpretation of age-earnings profile is not correct. I show that the cohort effects largely explain the decline observed at older ages. I illustrate this point by using a rotating panel data from France and a British longitudinal panel dataset for the period 1991 to 2007. I find no clear evidence that the earnings decline at older age, although the profiles are different between countries. Earnings for French workers rise linearly with age, with a further increase at the end of career, while it becomes flat for older workers in Great Britain. Overlapping cohorts provide an explanation of the observed decline of earnings for older workers in cross-sectional data. This suggests that cross-section age-earnings profile fails to represent the individual age-earnings profile.

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  • Kadija Charni, 2016. "Is it Better to Work When We Are Older? An Empirical Comparison Between France and Great Britain," AMSE Working Papers 1640, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    • Handle: RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1640
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    1. Kadija Charni & Stephen Bazen, 2017. "Do earnings really decline for older workers?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(1), pages 4-24, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    age-earnings profile; older workers; cohort analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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