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Retired at Last? Past Working Conditions and the Role of Retirement in Health Status

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  • Thomas Barnay
  • Éric Defebvre

Abstract

This paper assesses the role played by retirement in health status by considering past working conditions. Using data from the French Health and Professional Path survey, we address the endogeneity biases by setting up a mixed econometric strategy relying on an instrumental variable method using retirement age thresholds and a matching method. Retirement has positive effects on the health of less exposed individuals while yielding considerably greater improvements for workers retiring from highly demanding careers. The highest protective influence appears in the low-skilled male population and exposed to physical constraints, with a decline of 21.2 pp in the probability of declaring poor health and of 13.7 pp in chronic diseases, 16 pp in activity limitations and 8 pp in anxiety or depression. These results advocate the need for preventive measures aimed towards exposures to work strains and/or differentiated retirement schemes according to the nature and intensity of a pensioner's entire work life.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Barnay & Éric Defebvre, 2021. "Retired at Last? Past Working Conditions and the Role of Retirement in Health Status," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 144, pages 39-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:2021:i:144:p:39-74
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.15609/annaeconstat2009.144.0039
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    1. Thomas Barnay, 2016. "Health, work and working conditions: a review of the European economic literature," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(6), pages 693-709, July.
    2. Susann Rohwedder & Robert J. Willis, 2010. "Mental Retirement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 119-138, Winter.
    3. Shmueli, Amir, 2003. "Socio-economic and demographic variation in health and in its measures: the issue of reporting heterogeneity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 125-134, July.
    4. Shai, Ori, 2018. "Is retirement good for men’s health? Evidence using a change in the retirement age in Israel," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 15-30.
    5. Berney, L. R. & Blane, D. B., 1997. "Collecting retrospective data: Accuracy of recall after 50 years judged against historical records," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1519-1525, November.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement; Working Conditions; Physical Health; Mental Health; Instrumental Variables; Matching Method; France;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • C36 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation

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