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The Impact of Health Insurance Availability on Retirement Decision Reversals

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  • Joshua Congdon-Hohman

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

This paper uses the longitudinal aspect of the Health and Retirement Survey to explore the characteristics associated with reversals in retirement (referred to here as "unretirement"). Through the use of survival time analysis, this paper show that health insurance plays a significant role in unretirement decisions. This role is underestimated when a static probit analysis is used alone. The results hold up for a number of different retirement identifiers that are based both on self-reports of retirement and actual work levels. The results are also robust to various definitions of retirement prompted by the difficult question of how to classify partial retirements. The importance of health insurance provision in a retiree’s decision also remains significant when other "shocks" and the prospect of planned unretirement are introduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Congdon-Hohman, 2006. "The Impact of Health Insurance Availability on Retirement Decision Reversals," Working Papers wp137, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:mrr:papers:wp137
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Joshua Congdon-Hohman, 2015. "Love, Toil, And Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(1), pages 118-140, January.
    2. Begley, Jaclene & Chan, Sewin, 2018. "The effect of housing wealth shocks on work and retirement decisions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 180-195.

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