The so-called retirement-savings puzzle is a phenomenon by which, contrary to what the basic life-cycle model predicts, households do not run down their wealth significantly during retirement. In this survey paper we briefly review the literature that attempts to solve the retirement-savings...

This paper analyzes the effect of retirement on cognitive functioning using two large scale surveys. First, a longitudinal survey among older Americans allows controlling for individual heterogeneity and endogeneity of the retirement decision. Second, a cross-national European survey allows...

This paper adds to the empirical literature on health as an important determinant of employment at older ages by exploring the role in the health-employment nexus of the wage rates of 50 to 64-year-old workers. To do so, we use individual-level panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and...

This study examines the causal effect of being socially active on old age cognition, using harmonized data from 18 European countries. We handle the endogeneity of social participation via nonparametric partial identification methods that bound the average treatment effect while using fairly...

In this study, we investigate the anatomy of older workers' wages. The central question is whether the wage cushion — i.e., the difference between actual wages and collectively agreed-upon (maximum) contractual wages — contributes to the fact that wages continue increasing at older ages. We...

This paper analyzes the income distribution of the Dutch elderly using a microsimulation model. Microsimulation models allow for detailed estimates on the whole income distribution. Our model deviates from traditional models by explicitly considering the persistency and heteroskedasticity of...

This paper analyses the determinants of satisfaction with daily activities among retirees aged 65 years or older in eleven European countries. We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe on self-assessed satisfaction with daily activities and anchoring vignettes to...

I study the relationship between household saving and pensions, and estimate both the displacement effect of pensions on private saving and the precautionary saving effect due to uncertainty in pension income. Using a lifecycle framework, the consumption function depends on expected pension...

We use the subjective probabilities of bequests to be given in the future and current asset holdings, as reported in three household surveys (HRS, ELSA, and SHARE) covering thirteen countries, in order to assess whether, and to what extent, households plan to decumulate assets in old age. We...

How to design an attractive annuity for an undeveloped market and how to assess the potential demand for such a product? We first conduct a discrete choice experiment among participants of a large-scale occupational defined contribution pension scheme in Hong Kong to identify desired product...