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Joint retirement behaviour and pension reform in the Netherlands

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  • Nagore García, Amparo
  • van Soest, Arthur

Abstract

We examine the effects of a major pension reform in 2015 on the joint retirement decisions of working couples in the Netherlands. The reform abolished the partner allowance, a state pension supplement for a nonworking partner below the state pension age. At the same time, actuarially generous early retirement arrangements were made less attractive. Using rich administrative data, we estimate a multivariate mixed proportional hazards model that distinguishes between several sources of joint retirement: financial incentives, other causal mechanisms that make retirement of one spouse more likely when the other spouse retires (e.g., due to complementarities in leisure or social norms) and correlated preferences (observed and unobserved heterogeneity). We find that, conditional on observed and unobserved characteristics, the reform reduced the tendency to retire jointly and argue that this is not only due to a change in financial incentives but also to a change in the social norm.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagore García, Amparo & van Soest, Arthur, 2022. "Joint retirement behaviour and pension reform in the Netherlands," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joecag:v:23:y:2022:i:c:s2212828x22000330
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100401
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    Cited by:

    1. Wifo, 2023. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 8/2023," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 96(8), August.
    2. Mika Haapanen & Jaakko Pehkonen & Ville Seppälä, 2023. "Couples' joint retirement by household type: Evidence from Finland," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(3), pages 409-436, September.
    3. Marian Fink & Christine Mayrhuber & Silvia Rocha-Akis, 2023. "Abgabenbelastung bei Kombination von Pensions- und Erwerbseinkommen," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 96(8), pages 539-551, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household labour supply; Ageing; Partner allowance; Early retirement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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