Pension Reforms, Expectations, and Labour Market Behaviour
By Tabea Bucher-Koenen, Irene Ferrari & Yuri Pettinicchi
This study examines how expectations about institutional settings and their reform affect middleaged individuals’ labour market behaviour in the context of these reforms. We exploit time and cross-country variation in pension regulations in six European countries. We show that, following a 1-year increase in the pension eligibility age (SEA), individuals expect to claim their pensions around 3.6 months later on average – adjustments are larger among women compared to men. Individuals with lower education, numeracy skills, and cognitive performance show substantially weaker adjustments in their expectations. Effects of SEA increases on labour market behaviour are driven by those who update their pension eligibility expectations.
Source SSRN
