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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Kuusi, Tero; Martikainen, Pekka; Valkonen, Tarmo |
| Abstract: | Abstract We quantify the impact of old-age retirement on health using longitudinal Finnish register data for the period 2000–2012, which allows for a strict isolation of the effects of transition from work to retirement for both mental and physical health indicators. We use the lowest statutory eligibility age for full old-age pensions, 63 years, as an instrument in FE-IV estimation to ensure causal inference. We find that (1) retirement moderately decreases the use of antidepressants, especially for women; (2) the beneficial effects of retirement on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions are smaller and more diffused; (3) there is no robust evidence that retirement effects vary systematically among socioeconomic groups, although more robust declines in musculoskeletal diseases were observed among manual-labour men; and (4) the beneficial effects in antidepressant use can be extended to apply to most Finns retiring at ages 62–64 based on our test of external validity. |
| Keywords: | Health, Health behaviour, Retirement, Retirement policies, Demographic economics |
| JEL: | I10 I12 J26 J18 |
| Date: | 2019–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:67&r=all |
| By: | Bünnings, Christian; Hafner, Lucas; Reif, Simon; Tauchmann, Harald |
| Abstract: | From an economic perspective, marriage and long-term partnership can be seen as a riskpooling device. This informal insurance contract is, however, not fully enforceable. Each partner is free to leave when his or her support is needed in case of an adverse life event. An adverse health shock is a prominent example for such events. Since relationship breakdown itself is an extremely stressful experience, partnership may backfire as informal insurance against health risks, if health shocks increase the likelihood of relationship breakdown. We address this question empirically, using survey data from Germany. Results from various matching estimators indicate that adverse shocks to mental health substantially increase the probability of a couple splitting up over the following two years. In contrast, there is little effect of a sharp decrease in physical health on relationship stability. If at all, physical health shocks that hit both partners simultaneously stabilize a relationship. |
| Keywords: | separation,partnership dissolution,health shock,MCS,PCS,matching |
| JEL: | I12 J12 D13 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwqwdp:032019&r=all |
| By: | Barigozzi, Francesca; Cremer, Helmuth; Roeder, Kerstin |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the design of child-care policies when redistribution matters. Traditional mothers provide some informal child care, whereas career mothers purchase full time formal care in the market. The sorting of women across career paths is endogenous and shaped by a social norm about gender roles in the family. Via this social norm traditional mothersinformal child care imposes an externality on career mothers, so that the market outcome is inefficient. Informal care is too large and the group of career mothers is too small so that inefficiency and gender inequality go hand in hand. In a first-best, full information word redistribution across couples and efficiency are separable. Redistribution is performed via lump-sum transfers and taxes which are designed to equalize utilities across all couples. The efficient allocation of child care is obtained by subsidizing formal care at a Pigouvian rate. However, in a second-best settings, we show that a trade-off between the reduction of gender inequality and redistributive considerations emerge. The optimal uniform subsidy is lower than the Pigouvianlevel. Under a nonlinear policy the first-best Pigouvianrule for the (marginal) subsidy on informal care is reestablished. While the share of high career mothers continues to be distorted downward for incentive reasons, this policy is effective in reconciling the objectives of reducing the child care related gender inequalities and achieving a more equal income distribution across couples. |
| Keywords: | Child care; womens career choices; child care subsidies; redistribution; social norms |
| JEL: | D13 H23 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2019–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:122917&r=all |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker, Sascha O. (Department of Economics, University of Warwick); Fernandes, Ana (Bern University of Applied Sciences); Weichselbaumer, Doris (Johannes Kepler University Linz) |
| Abstract: | Due to conventional gender norms, women are more likely to be in charge of childcare than men. From an employer’s perspective, in their fertile age they are also at “risk” of pregnancy. Both factors potentially affect hiring practices of firms. We conduct a largescale correspondence test in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, sending out approx. 9,000 job applications, varying job candidate’s personal characteristics such as marital status and age of children. We find evidence that, for part-time jobs, married women with older kids, who likely finished their childbearing cycle and have more projectable childcare chores than women with very young kids, are at a significant advantage vis-àvis other groups of women. At the same time, married, but childless applicants, who have a higher likelihood to become pregnant, are at a disadvantage compared to single, but childless applicants to part-time jobs. Such effects are not present for full-time jobs, presumably, because by applying to these in contrast to part-time jobs, women signal that they have arranged for external childcare. |
| Keywords: | Fertility ; Discrimination ; Experimental economics |
| JEL: | C93 J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1193&r=all |
| By: | Bustelo, Monserrat; Flabbi, Luca; Piras, Claudia; Tejada, Mauricio |
| Abstract: | The labor force participation of women is lower than the labor force participation of men. This empirical regularity is particularly acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In terms of labor market productivity and growth potential, these lower participation rates constitute a reserve of untapped resources. Providing an estimate of the impact that increased female participation in the labor force has on labor market outcomes and GDP is therefore crucial but challenging. Two issues are of importance: sample selection and equilibrium effects. We develop a labor market model that is able to address these issues. We estimate the model on the microdata of five LAC countries. We find that both a childcare policy and a policy increasing women’s productivity generate a positive impact on female participation and significant increases in GDP per capita. Our results suggest that relatively modest policies that are able to increase the participation of women in the labor market can provide a significant increase in GDP. However, we are not able to take into account the fiscal costs necessary to implement the policies or the possible negative externalities on household production. |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:9420&r=all |
| By: | Ali, Amjad; Audi, Marc |
| Abstract: | This paper has examined the effect of urbanization and economic misery on average life expectancy in selected MENA nations from 2001 to 2016. The selected MENA nations are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Islamic Rep., Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen Rep. PP-Fisher Chi-square, Levin, Lin & Chu t*, Im, Pesaran and Shin W-stat and ADF-Fisher Chi-square unit root tests have been used for examining unit root issue in the data. Panel ARDL has been used for reviewing the co-integration among the selected indicators. The causality of the variables has been analyzed by impulse response function and variance decomposition. The outcomes reveal that food availability has significant and positive relation with an average life expectancy. The outcomes show that environmental standards put significant and positive impact on average life expectancy. The outcomes reveal that economic misery has a significant and negative influence on average life expectancy in MENA nations. The findings reveal that urbanization puts significant and positive influence on average life expectancy. So, for improving the average life expectancy in MENA nations availability of food, household final consumption and the level of urbanization must be enhanced. Whereas at the time economic misery will be reduced. |
| Keywords: | Economic misery, urbanization, life expectancy |
| JEL: | E31 J17 O18 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:93459&r=all |