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Retirement and health: Evidence from China

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  • Che, Yi
  • Li, Xin

Abstract

One typical feature of China's pension system is that retirement is mandatory. By exploiting the exogenous change created by this mandatory retirement policy, we use the mandatory retirement age as an instrument for retirement status to examine the effect of retirement on individual health using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). Our main finding is that the probability of “fair” or “poor” self-reported health among white-collar workers decreases by 34 percentage point after retirement. This result is generally robust to different model specifications, alternative measures of health, and different subsamples. In addition, we deliver evidence that increased health-related exercises and the cultivation of a better lifestyle are two possible channels through which retirement affects health.

Suggested Citation

  • Che, Yi & Li, Xin, 2018. "Retirement and health: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 84-95.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:49:y:2018:i:c:p:84-95
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2018.01.005
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health; Retirement; Mandatory retirement age; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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