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‘Earned, not given’? The effect of lowering the full retirement age on retirement decisions

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  • Dolls, Mathias
  • Krolage, Carla

Abstract

This paper analyzes behavioral responses to a 2014 reform in the German public pension system that lowered the full retirement age (FRA) of individuals with a long contribution history by up to two years and framed the new FRA as reference age for retirement. Using administrative data from public pension insurance accounts, we first document a substantial bunching response at the FRA exceeding the control group’s bunching by 83%. Second, we show in a difference-in-difference setting that a 1.0 year decrease in the FRA leads to a reduction in the average pension claiming age by 0.3–0.4 years. Treated individuals neither have poorer health nor are more likely to be liquidity-constrained than individuals in the control group. Our results suggest that the strong responses to the reform are driven both by the new FRA serving as a reference point and by financial incentives. Estimated fiscal costs of the reform are at the upper end of the range of previous back-of-the-envelope calculations.

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  • Dolls, Mathias & Krolage, Carla, 2023. "‘Earned, not given’? The effect of lowering the full retirement age on retirement decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:223:y:2023:i:c:s0047272723000919
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104909
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    2. Becker, Sebastian & Gehlen, Annica & Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter, 2024. "Income Effects of Disability Benefits," IZA Discussion Papers 17298, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Emre Oral & Simon Rabaté & Arthur Seibold, 2024. "The Social Multiplier of Pension Reform," CESifo Working Paper Series 10999, CESifo.
    4. 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.
    5. Boockmann, Bernhard & Reiner, Marcel & Schafstädt, Christin & Scheu, Tobias & Setzepfand, Paul, 2024. "Arbeitskräftepotenziale in Deutschland besser ausschöpfen: 60 Handlungsempfehlungen für Verwaltung, Politik und Praxis," Studien, Stiftung Familienunternehmen / Foundation for Family Businesses, number 305211.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement age; Early retirement; Pension reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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