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Pension Incentives and the Retirement Decisions of Couples

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  • Atalay, Kadir

    (University of Sydney)

  • Barrett, Garry F.

    (University of Sydney)

Abstract

Recent reforms to social security in many countries have sought to delay retirement. Given the family context in which retirement decisions are made, social security reforms have potentially important spill-over effects on the participation of spouses. This paper analyses the impact of women's pension incentives on the retirement decision of their husband. The 1993 Age Pension reform in Australia increased the eligibility age for Age Pension benefits for women. This reform caused an increase in participation of men married to women in the affected cohorts. The behavioral responses are due to wealth effects and preferences for shared leisure.

Suggested Citation

  • Atalay, Kadir & Barrett, Garry F., 2016. "Pension Incentives and the Retirement Decisions of Couples," IZA Discussion Papers 10013, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Whelan, Stephen & Atalay, Kadir & Hayward, Richard Donald, 2018. "Asset portfolio retirement decisions: the role of the tax and transfer system," SocArXiv akj8w, Center for Open Science.
    2. Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter & Hammerschmid, Anna & Peters, Michael, 2020. "Labor Market and Distributional Effects of an Increase in the Retirement Age," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Niklas Gohl, 2023. "Working Longer, Working Stronger? The Forward-Looking Effects of Increasing the Retirement Age on (Un)employment Behaviour," CEPA Discussion Papers 63, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Håkan Selin, 2017. "What happens to the husband’s retirement decision when the wife’s retirement incentives change?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(3), pages 432-458, June.
    5. Amparo Nagore Garcia & Mariacristina Rossi & Arthur van Soest, 2018. "Labour Market Decisions of the Self-Employed in the Netherlands at the Statutory Retirement Age," Working papers 057, Department of Economics, Social Studies, Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino.
    6. Niklas Gohl, 2023. "Working Longer, Working Stronger? The Forward-Looking Effects of Increasing the Retirement Age on (Un)employment Behaviour," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0013, Berlin School of Economics.
    7. Wojciech Hardy & Aneta Kielczewska & Piotr Lewandowski & Iga Magda, 2018. "Job retention among older workers in central and Eastern Europe," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 69-94.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    joint retirement; age pension; retirement; spousal effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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