This is the first study to analyze effects of in utero exposure to the severe Dutch Hunger Winter famine (1944/45) on labor market outcomes and hospitalization. This famine is clearly demarcated in time and space. It was not anticipated. Nutritional conditions were stable before and after the...

Reliance on self‐rated health to proxy medical need can bias estimation of education‐related inequity in health care utilization. We correct this bias both by instrumenting self‐rated health with objective health indicators and by purging self‐rated health of reporting heterogeneity...

Cognitive impairment has emerged as a major driver of disability in old age, with profound effects on individual well-being and decision-making at older ages. Decelerating its decline among the elderly is one of the main challenges for ageing societies. In the light of policies aimed at...

Cognitive functioning of elderly individuals may be affected by events such as the loss of a (grand)child or partner or the onset of a serious chronic condition, and by negative economic shocks such as job loss or the reduction of pension benefits. It is conceivable that the impact of such...

Anchoring vignettes are increasingly used to identify and correct heterogeneity in the reporting of health, work disability, life satisfaction, political efficacy, etc. with the aim of improving interpersonal comparability of subjective indicators of these constructs. The method relies on two...

This paper assesses the impact of a dramatic reform of the Dutch pension system on mental health, savings behavior and retirement expectations of workers nearing retirement age. The reform means that public sector workers born on January 1, 1950 or later face a substantial reduction in their...

This study examines the expected retirement replacement rates of several cohorts of Dutch employees at the time of their planned retirements. It also imputes the actual replacement rates based on available pension records. We find that using reasonable indexation rates, the expected replacement...