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The Betrayed Generation? Intra-Household Transfers and Retirement Behavior in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Kyeongkuk Kim

    (University of Hawai‘i at MÄ noa)

  • Sang-Hyop Lee

    (University of Hawai‘i at MÄ noa)

  • Timothy J Halliday

    (University of Hawai‘i at MÄ noa)

Abstract

We consider the nexus of intra-household transfers, the sex composition of the sibship, and parental retirement behavior in Korea. We provide evidence that the cost of raising sons is higher than it is for daughters in Korea. In the absence of sufficient transfers from adult sons to parents, this implies that parents will increase their labor supply to fund earlier investments in their sons. Consistent with this, we show that parents with more adult sons delay their retirements. In particular, an elderly parent with all sons has a retirement probability that is 7-10 percentage points lower than a comparable parent with all daughters. Elderly parents also work between 1.8-2.7 hours more per week when their sibship consists of all sons. These effects are the most pronounced when the first born is a son as well as for poorer households.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyeongkuk Kim & Sang-Hyop Lee & Timothy J Halliday, 2018. "The Betrayed Generation? Intra-Household Transfers and Retirement Behavior in South Korea," Working Papers 201804, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hai:wpaper:201804
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    retirement; intra-household transfers; gender; sex ratios;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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