We propose to estimate the magnitude of any direct effect of retirement on health. Since retirement is endogenous to health, it is not possible to estimate this effect by comparing the health of individuals before and after they retire. As an alternative we will use institutional features of pension systems in the United States and the United Kingdom that are exogenous to the individual to isolate exogenous variation in retirement behavior. Data used will include both vital statistics and longitudinal survey data from both countries. Results can be helpful in understanding the possible effects of changing Social Security’s retirement ages.
Estimating the Health Effects of Retirement
John Bound, Timothy Waidmann,2007