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Seniority wages and the role of firms in retirement

Author

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  • Frimmel, Wolfgang
  • Horvath, Thomas
  • Schnalzenberger, Mario
  • Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf
Abstract
In general, retirement is seen as a pure labor supply phenomenon, but firms can have strong incentives to send expensive older workers into retirement. Based on considerations about wage costs and replacement costs, we discuss steep seniority wage profiles as incentives for firms to dismiss older workers before retirement. Conditional on individual retirement incentives, e.g., social security wealth accrual rates or health status, the steepness of the wage profile will have different incentives for workers as compared to firms to maintain the employment relationship. Using an instrumental variable approach to account for selection of workers in our firms and for reverse causality, we find that firms with higher labor costs for older workers have on average a lower job exit age and a higher incidence of golden handshakes.

Suggested Citation

  • Frimmel, Wolfgang & Horvath, Thomas & Schnalzenberger, Mario & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2018. "Seniority wages and the role of firms in retirement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 19-32.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:164:y:2018:i:c:p:19-32
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.04.013
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    Cited by:

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    2. Martin Kerndler & Michael Reiter, 2020. "Wage Rigidities and Old-Age Unemployment," EconPol Policy Brief 22, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    3. Todd Morris & Benoit Dostie, 2023. "Graying and staying on the job: The welfare implications of employment protection for older workers," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 15, Institut sur la retraite et l'épargne / Retirement and Savings Institute.
    4. Simon Jäger & Benjamin Schoefer & Josef Zweimüller, 2023. "Marginal Jobs and Job Surplus: A Test of the Efficiency of Separations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(3), pages 1265-1303.
    5. Hanson, Torbjørn & Lindgren, Petter Y., 2019. "No country for old men? Increasing the retirement age in the Armed Forces," MPRA Paper 95917, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Westerhout, Ed, 2020. "The Adverse and Beneficial effects of Front-Loaded Pension Contributions," Discussion Paper 2020-016, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    7. Ichino, Andrea & Schwerdt, Guido & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf & Zweimüller, Josef, 2017. "Too old to work, too young to retire?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 14-29.
    8. Piera Bello & Vincenzo Galasso, 2020. "Old before their time: the role of employers in retirement decisions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(5), pages 1198-1223, October.
    9. Piera Bello & Vincenzo Galasso, 2020. "Old before their time: the role of employers in retirement decisions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(5), pages 1198-1223, October.
    10. Andrea Albanese & Bart Cockx & Yannick Thuy, 2020. "Working time reductions at the end of the career: Do they prolong the time spent in employment?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 99-141, July.
    11. Frimmel, Wolfgang & Pruckner, Gerald J., 2020. "Retirement and healthcare utilization," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    12. Frimmel, Wolfgang, 2021. "Later retirement and the labor market re-integration of elderly unemployed workers," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    13. Taiwo, Kayode, 2024. "Teachers’ Retirement Age Act: Tenure and Teacher Quality in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 121931, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Tai Lee & Joonmo Cho, 2022. "Unintended consequences of the retirement‐age extension in South Korea," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 36(1), pages 105-125, May.
    15. Westerhout, Ed, 2020. "The Adverse and Beneficial effects of Front-Loaded Pension Contributions," Other publications TiSEM 25806b9b-8208-4ae6-b309-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Kerndler, Martin, 2016. "Contracting frictions and inefficient layoffs of older workers," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145711, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    17. Wolfgang Frimmel & Rene Wiesinger, 2024. "Sick Happens: The Effect of Worker Health Shocks on Coworkers' Employment and Health Behavior," Economics working papers 2024-12, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    18. Daniele Franco & Pietro Tommasino, 2020. "Lessons From Italy: A Good Pension System Needs an Effective Broader Social Policy Framework," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(2), pages 73-81, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement; Seniority wages; Firm incentives;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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