The Repeal of the Retirement Earnings Test and the Labor Supply of Older Men

TitleThe Repeal of the Retirement Earnings Test and the Labor Supply of Older Men
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsEngelhardt, GV, Kumar, A
JournalJournal of Pension Economics and Finance
Volume8
Issue4
Pagination429-450
Call Numbernewpubs20091202_wp_2007-1.pdf
KeywordsDemographics, Employment and Labor Force, Social Security
Abstract

This paper examines the impact of the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000, which abolished the Social Security retirement earnings test for those aged 65-69, on the labor supply of older men using data from the 1996-2004 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Based on reduced-form specifications, we find that the repeal of the earnings test increased labor supply on the intensive margin by 12-17 , the bulk of which was concentrated among men with a high-school degree, whose labor supply rose by 19-26 . We formulate a unique test for endogenous reporting of health status by examining how reported health changes with the repeal of the earnings test. We find some evidence of endogenous self-reported health status. In particular, older men were substantially less likely to have reported that health limits their ability to work after, relative to before the earnings test repeal, with the bulk of the effect concentrated among men with high-school degrees, who had the largest labor-supply response to the repeal.

DOI10.1017/S1474747208003892[Opens in a new window]
Endnote Keywords

Social Security/Older men/Labor Supply

Endnote ID

21400

Citation Key7385