The role of job characteristics in people preferences to retire early

Details

Supervisors

Vandenberghe, Vincent

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences économiques, orientation générale

Abstract

This paper tests the association between job characteristics and retirement preferences across 19 European countries. I estimate logistic regression models based on data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project. I hypothesize that older individuals are less likely to retire early the more favorable working environment they have. By working environment, I mean both type of occupation and labour conditions. I suspect that, ceteris paribus, individuals will prefer to remain at jobs which are characterized by less physical effort, less time pressure, more opportunity to develop new skills, and will more likely to retire early from jobs which are physically demanding, characterized by strong peer pressure or involve undesirable working conditions. Controlling for basic demographics, health, and other personal characteristics, I find that work conditions do influence the early retirement decision. Respondents dissatisfied with their jobs are considerably more likely than others to report the desire to retire early (OR = 2.62; 95% C.I. 0.31 – 1.11). The only sector, which is significantly associated with decrease in the likelihood of retirement, is “health and social work” (OR = 0.66; 95% C.I. 0.50 – 0.86). Mental health variables such as the loneliness scale and the depression scale are not significantly related to retirement intentions. High evaluation of quality of life decreases probability of early retirement (OR = 0.69; 95% C.I. 0.47 – 1.01). With regard to the interaction between job characteristics and mental health, individuals who experienced poor quality of work are more likely to report reduced mental health.