IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wai/econwp/15-07.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labour Force Participation, Human Capital and Wellbeing among Older New Zealanders

Author

Listed:
  • Michael P. Cameron

    (University of Waikato)

  • Peggy Koopman-Boyden

    (University of Waikato)

  • Matthew Roskruge

    (University of Waikato)

Abstract

Along with many other countries, New Zealand is experiencing a rapid rise in the population of older people, both in absolute terms and also as a percentage of the overall population. Older people are increasingly likely to participate in formal employment beyond the age of pension eligibility (65 years in New Zealand). Earlier research has showed that working full-time reduces life satisfaction among New Zealanders 65 years and older, and that this relationship is robust to the inclusion of measures of job satisfaction or the desire to work more or fewer hours. In this paper we investigate the relationship between labour force participation and life satisfaction among older New Zealanders, with specific focus on the mediating role of human capital in the relationship. We utilise data from several waves of the New Zealand General Social Survey (n=5856), and account for the bias due to selection effects and endogeneity using instrumental variables analysis, and control for mental and physical health. Our identification strategy is to use gender, regional-level employment rates, and migration rates as instruments for labour force status. Our results suggest that, should improving wellbeing for older people become an explicit government priority, investing in reducing the push factors for older people to remain in the full-time employment may improve wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael P. Cameron & Peggy Koopman-Boyden & Matthew Roskruge, 2015. "Labour Force Participation, Human Capital and Wellbeing among Older New Zealanders," Working Papers in Economics 15/07, University of Waikato.
    • Handle: RePEc:wai:econwp:15/07
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.its.waikato.ac.nz/wai/econwp/1507.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. Elizabeth Horner, 2014. "Subjective Well-Being and Retirement: Analysis and Policy Recommendations," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 125-144, February.
    4. Bonsang, Eric & Klein, Tobias J., 2012. "Retirement and subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 311-329.
    5. Michael P. Cameron, 2014. "Labour Force Participation among Older New Zealanders, 1991-2013," Working Papers in Economics 14/06, University of Waikato.
    6. John F. Helliwell, 2006. "Well-Being, Social Capital and Public Policy: What's New?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(510), pages 34-45, March.
    7. Currie, Janet & Madrian, Brigitte C., 1999. "Health, health insurance and the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 50, pages 3309-3416, Elsevier.
    8. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413, December.
    9. Ulrike Hotopp, 2007. "The ageing workforce: A health issue?," Economic & Labour Market Review, Palgrave Macmillan;Office for National Statistics, vol. 1(2), pages 30-35, February.
    10. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2012. "The Relationship Between Social Leisure and Life Satisfaction: Causality and Policy Implications," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 453-490, September.
    11. Aspen Gorry & Devon Gorry & Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2018. "Does retirement improve health and life satisfaction?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(12), pages 2067-2086, December.
    12. Kevin E. Cahill & Michael D. Giandrea & Joseph F. Quinn, 2005. "Are Traditional Retirements a Thing of the Past? New Evidence on Retirement Patterns and Bridge Jobs," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 626, Boston College Department of Economics.
    13. Latif, Ehsan, 2011. "The impact of retirement on psychological well-being in Canada," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 373-380, August.
    14. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    15. Coe, Norma B. & Zamarro, Gema, 2011. "Retirement effects on health in Europe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 77-86, January.
    16. Atalay, Kadir & Barrett, Garry F., 2014. "The causal effect of retirement on health: New evidence from Australian pension reform," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 392-395.
    17. Marjorie Honig & Giora Hanoch, 1985. "Partial Retirement as a Separate Mode of Retirement Behavior," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 20(1), pages 21-46.
    18. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    19. Chang, Hung-Hao & Yen, Steven T., 2011. "Full-time, part-time employment and life satisfaction of the elderly," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 815-823.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mattia Filomena & Matteo Picchio, 2023. "Retirement and health outcomes in a meta‐analytical framework," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1120-1155, September.
    2. Gorry, Devon & Slavov, Sita Nataraj, 2021. "The effect of retirement on health biomarkers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    3. Cuong Viet Nguyen & Finn Tarp, 2023. "Cash Transfers and Labor Supply: New Evidence on Impacts and Mechanisms," DERG working paper series 23-18, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Development Economics Research Group (DERG).
    4. Lieze Sohier & Luc Van Ootegem & Elsy Verhofstadt, 2021. "Well-Being During the Transition from Work to Retirement," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 263-286, January.
    5. Sahlgren, Gabriel H., 2012. "Work ‘til You Drop: Short- and Longer-Term Health Effects of Retirement in Europe," Working Paper Series 928, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    6. Ilona Babenko & Benjamin Bennett & John M Bizjak & Jeffrey L Coles & Jason J Sandvik, 2023. "Clawback Provisions and Firm Risk," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 191-239.
    7. Asadul Islam & Dietrich K. Fausten, 2008. "Skilled Immigration and Wages in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 66-82, September.
    8. Burke, Paul J. & Yang, Hewen, 2016. "The price and income elasticities of natural gas demand: International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 466-474.
    9. Sascha O. Becker, 2016. "Using instrumental variables to establish causality," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 250-250, April.
    10. Costa-Font, Joan & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Do Public Caregiving Subsidies and Supports affect the Provision of Care and Transfers?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Ding, Hong, 2012. "Is government’s help for unemployed people helpful for the society? An Empirical Study on Macro Data of Public Unemployment Spending in OECD Nations," MPRA Paper 43132, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Asad Zaman, 2010. "Causal Relations via Econometrics," International Econometric Review (IER), Econometric Research Association, vol. 2(1), pages 36-56, April.
    13. Dusanee Kesavayuth & Robert E. Rosenman & Vasileios Zikos, 2016. "Retirement, Personality, And Well-Being," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 733-750, April.
    14. Schwerdt, Guido & Messer, Dolores & Woessmann, Ludger & Wolter, Stefan C., 2012. "The impact of an adult education voucher program: Evidence from a randomized field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(7-8), pages 569-583.
    15. Paul J. Burke & Andrew Leigh, 2010. "Do Output Contractions Trigger Democratic Change?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 124-157, October.
    16. Alan S. Levy & Conrad J. Choinière & Sara B. Fein, 2008. "Practice‐Specific Risk Perceptions and Self‐Reported Food Safety Practices," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 749-761, June.
    17. Husted, Lucas & Rogers, John & Sun, Bo, 2020. "Monetary policy uncertainty," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 20-36.
    18. Bozzola, Martina & Smale, Melinda, 2020. "The welfare effects of crop biodiversity as an adaptation to climate shocks in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    19. Duncan Chaplin & Arif Mamun & Ali Protik & John Schurrer & Divya Vohra & Kristine Bos & Hannah Burak & Laura Meyer & Anca Dumitrescu & Christopher Ksoll & Thomas Cook, "undated". "Grid Electricity Expansion in Tanzania by MCC: Findings from a Rigorous Impact Evaluation, Final Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 144768f69008442e96369195e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    20. Markussen, Simen, 2009. "The Effects of Sick-Leaves on Earnings," Memorandum 20/2009, Oslo University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour force participation; retirement; subjective wellbeing; life satisfaction; human capital; New Zealand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wai:econwp:15/07. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Geua Boe-Gibson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dewaknz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.