Social Security and Retirement Programs Around the World: The Capacity to Work at Older Ages – Introduction and Summary

Courtney Coile; Kevin S. Milligan; David A. Wise

doi:10.3386/w21939

Social Security and Retirement Programs Around the World: The Capacity to Work at Older Ages – Introduction and Summary

Courtney Coile, Kevin S. Milligan & David A. Wise

Working Paper 21939

DOI 10.3386/w21939

Issue Date January 2016

This is the introduction and summary to the seventh phase of an ongoing project on Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World. The project compares the experiences of a dozen developed countries and uses differences in their retirement program provisions to explore the effect of SS on retirement and related questions. The first three phases of this project document that: 1) incentives for retirement from SS are strongly correlated with labor force participation rates across countries; 2) within countries, workers with stronger incentives to delay retirement are more likely to do so; and 3) changes to SS could have substantial effects on labor force participation and government finances. The fourth volume explores whether higher employment among older persons might increase youth unemployment and finds no link between the two. The fifth and sixth volumes focus on the disability insurance (DI) program, finding that changes in DI participation are more closely linked to DI reforms than to changes in health and that reducing access to DI would raise labor supply.
This seventh phase of the project explores whether older people are healthy enough to work longer. We use two main methods to estimate the health capacity to work, asking how much older individuals today could work if they worked as much as those with the same mortality rate in the past or as younger individuals in similar health. Both methods suggest there is significant additional health capacity to work at older ages.

This paper is part of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s International Social Security (ISS) Project, which is supported by the National Institute on Aging (grant P01 AG012810). The authors are indebted to Maurice Dalton for expert research assistance. We also thank the members of the other country teams in the ISS project for comments that helped to shape this paper. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Kevin S. Milligan
January 17, 2016

This document attempts to disclose completely my potential conflicts of interest, using the principles circulated by the American Economic Association on January 5, 2012.

Item (2): Sources of support:

“Each author of a submitted article should identify each interested party from whom he or she has received significant financial support, summing to at least $10,000 in the past three years, …”

The following corresponds to the calendar years 2012-2015. Below is a complete listing of sources of support that exceed $10,000. For several of these, a grant flowed through a research organization. I have tried to list both the research organization and ultimate source of the funds.

1. University of British Columbia: salary. (2012 2013 2014 2015)

2. National Institute on Aging / National Bureau of Economic Research: stipend for International Social Security project. (2012 2013 2014 )

3. National Bureau of Economic Research / Social Security Administration: stipend for paper. (2013)

4. Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network / Human Resources and Skills Development Canada: stipend for paper and directing research series. (2012 2013)

5. Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada: Standard Research Grant. (2012 2013 2015)

6. C.D. Howe Institute, stipend for role as Scholar-in-Residence (2014 2015)

Item (3): relevant paid or unpaid positions:

“Each author should disclose any paid or unpaid positions as officer, director, or board member of relevant non-profit advocacy organizations or profit-making entities.”

The following list covers activities in the years 2012-2015:

1. Editor, Canadian Tax Journal. (Paid) (2012 2013 2014 2015)

2. Associate Editor, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. (Unpaid) (2012 2013 2014 2015)

3. Academic Director, British Columbia Interuniversity Research Data Centre (Unpaid; teaching release / research stipend). Funded by UBC/UVIC/SFU/UNBC/SSHRC/CIHR. (2012 2013 2014 2015)

4. President and sole shareholder of KAYEMM CONSULTANCY INCORPORATED, through which some of the above funds have been received. (2012 2013 2014 2015)

5. Board of Directors, Wesley Place Ltd., Vancouver BC. (Unpaid) (2012 2013 2014 2015)

6. Board of Directors, National Tax Association. (Unpaid) (2012)

7. Member of Economic Advisory Council for Liberal Party of Canada. (Unpaid) (2014 2015)

Item (4): disclosure for close relative or partner

I had no domestic partner in the years 2012-2015.

Additional affiliations:

1. Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research. (Unpaid) (2012 2013 2014 2015)

2. Research Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute. (Unpaid) (2012 2013 2014)

3. Scholar-in-Residence, C.D. Howe Institute. (Stipend) (2014 2015)

4. Occasional contributor, Economy Lab, Globe and Mail. (Unpaid) (2012 2013)

5. Occasional contributor, Maclean’s Econowatch. (Paid) (2013 2014 2015)

Asset disclosure:

I hold shares in companies through broadly-diversified mutual funds and investment vehicles. I do not directly hold shares of any corporation (except for KAYEMM CONSULTANCY as noted above).

Political activity:

I am not a member of any political party at the municipal, provincial, or federal levels. I have occasional policy conversations with policymakers from all parties, as well as government officials.
MARC RIS BibTeΧ

Social Security and Retirement Programs Around the World: The Capacity to Work at Older Ages – Introduction and Summary

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