June 2009

IZA DP No. 4253: How Does Retirement Affect Health?

published as 'Does retirement trigger ill health?' in: Health Economics, 2012, 21 (3), 282 - 300

本文调查了effects of retirement on various health outcomes. Data stem from the first three waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). With this informative data, non-parametric matching methods can be applied to identify causal effects. It is found that retirement significantly increases the risk of being diagnosed with a chronic condition. In particular, it raises the risk of developing a cardiovascular disease and being diagnosed with cancer. Estimates also indicate that retirement has quite diverse effects for different individuals.