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Retirement and Social Capital: Evidence from Urban China

Author

Listed:
  • Xue, Xindong

    (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law)

  • Ye, Chunchen

    (Hubei Academy of Healthcare Security Reform and Development)

  • Rocco, Lorenzo

    (University of Padova)

Abstract

We study the effect of retirement on social capital in urban China. Using three waves of the China Family Panel Studies (2018–2022) and a fuzzy regression discontinuity design based on China’s statutory retirement ages, we document that retirement does not raise or lower social capital uniformly but reallocates it. Retirement causes bridging social capital to fall and bonding social capital to rise. The reallocation is concentrated among men, whose pre-retirement networks are more heavily workplace-centered. As governments around the world postpone statutory retirement ages in response to population ageing, our estimates imply that pension reforms carry social externalities of opposing sign that fiscal accounting omits.

Suggested Citation

  • Xue, Xindong & Ye, Chunchen & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2026. "Retirement and Social Capital: Evidence from Urban China," IZA Discussion Papers 18822, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18822
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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