Retirement in a Family Context : A Structural Model for Husbands and Wives

A structural econometric model of retirement of married couples is specified and estimated with recent panel data from the NLS for Mature Women. A coincidence of spouses retiring together, despite the younger ages of wives, suggests explicit efforts at coordination. The estimates suggest that one reason is a coincidence of tastes for leisure. More importantly, each spouse, and perhaps husbands in particular, values retirement more once their spouse has retired. The opportunity set accounts for peaks in the retirement hazards of each spouse, but coordination in opportunities is not responsible for coordination of retirement dates