--- title: "The Influence of Old-age Retirement on Health: Causal Evidence from the Finnish Register Data" authors: - name: "Kuusi, Tero" url: "https://www.etla.fi/henkilot/kuusi-tero/" sameAs: - "https://twitter.com/TeroKuusi" - name: "Martikainen, Pekka" - name: "Valkonen, Tarmo" url: "https://www.etla.fi/henkilot/valkonen-tarmo/" sameAs: - "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9052-4390" - "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dNgtiMIAAAAJ" date_published: "2019-04-18" series: "ETLA Working Papers" series_number: "67" issn: - "2323-2420" - "2323-2439" jel_codes: - "I10" - "I12" - "J26" - "J18" language: "en" publisher: "ETLA Economic Research" pdf_url: "https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-67.pdf" keywords: - "Health" - "Health behaviour" - "Retirement" - "Retirement policies" - "Demographic economics" identifier: "https://www.etla.fi/julkaisut/id/ETLA-Working-Papers-67" abstract: "We quantify the impact of old-age retirement on health using longitudinal Finnish register data for the period 2000–2012, which allows for a strict isolation of the effects of transition from work to retirement for both mental and physical health indicators. We use the lowest statutory eligibility age for full old-age pensions, 63 years, as an instrument in FE-IV estimation to ensure causal inference. We find that (1) retirement moderately decreases the use of antidepressants, especially for women; (2) the beneficial effects of retirement on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions are smaller and more diffused; (3) there is no robust evidence that retirement effects vary systematically among socioeconomic groups, although more robust declines in musculoskeletal diseases were observed among manual-labour men; and (4) the beneficial effects in antidepressant use can be extended to apply to most Finns retiring at ages 62–64 based on our test of external validity." --- # The Influence of Old-age Retirement on Health: Causal Evidence from the Finnish Register Data **Published:** 2019-04-18 **Categories:** Publications, Working Papers **Tags:** ETLA-WEF **URL:** https://www.etla.fi/en/publications/the-influence-of-old-age-retirement-on-health-causal-evidence-from-the-finnish-register-data/ #### Abstract We quantify the impact of old-age retirement on health using longitudinal Finnish register data for the period 2000–2012, which allows for a strict isolation of the effects of transition from work to retirement for both mental and physical health indicators. We use the lowest statutory eligibility age for full old-age pensions, 63 years, as an instrument in FE-IV estimation to ensure causal inference. We find that (1) retirement moderately decreases the use of antidepressants, especially for women; (2) the beneficial effects of retirement on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions are smaller and more diffused; (3) there is no robust evidence that retirement effects vary systematically among socioeconomic groups, although more robust declines in musculoskeletal diseases were observed among manual-labour men; and (4) the beneficial effects in antidepressant use can be extended to apply to most Finns retiring at ages 62–64 based on our test of external validity. --- ## Additional Information **Lataa Pdf:** https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-67.pdf **Kirjoittajat:** Kuusi, Tero - Martikainen, Pekka - Valkonen, Tarmo **Kansikuva:** https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/etla-working-papers-67-kansi.jpg **Key Words:** Health, Health behaviour, Retirement, Retirement policies, Demographic economics **Jel:** I10, I12, J26, J18 **Paivays:** 18.04.2019 **Sivuja:** 26 **Kieli:** en **Sarja:** ETLA Working Papers **Sarja Nro:** 67 **Issn:** 2323-2420, 2323-2439 (Pdf) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212828X20300220 **Saatavuus:** 2 **Publication Research:** No ## Bibliographic metadata (JSON-LD) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "@id": "https://www.etla.fi/julkaisut/id/ETLA-Working-Papers-67", "headline": "The Influence of Old-age Retirement on Health: Causal Evidence from the Finnish Register Data", "inLanguage": "en", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "ETLA Economic Research", "url": "https://www.etla.fi", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/logo-etla_logo.svg" } }, "datePublished": "2019-04-18T00:00:00+00:00", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kuusi, Tero", "url": "https://www.etla.fi/henkilot/kuusi-tero/", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/TeroKuusi" ] }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martikainen, Pekka" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Valkonen, Tarmo", "url": "https://www.etla.fi/henkilot/valkonen-tarmo/", "sameAs": [ "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9052-4390", "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dNgtiMIAAAAJ" ] } ], "abstract": "We quantify the impact of old-age retirement on health using longitudinal Finnish register data for the period 2000–2012, which allows for a strict isolation of the effects of transition from work to retirement for both mental and physical health indicators. We use the lowest statutory eligibility age for full old-age pensions, 63 years, as an instrument in FE-IV estimation to ensure causal inference. We find that (1) retirement moderately decreases the use of antidepressants, especially for women; (2) the beneficial effects of retirement on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions are smaller and more diffused; (3) there is no robust evidence that retirement effects vary systematically among socioeconomic groups, although more robust declines in musculoskeletal diseases were observed among manual-labour men; and (4) the beneficial effects in antidepressant use can be extended to apply to most Finns retiring at ages 62–64 based on our test of external validity.", "keywords": [ { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Health", "@language": "en" }, { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Health behaviour", "@language": "en" }, { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Retirement", "@language": "en" }, { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Retirement policies", "@language": "en" }, { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Demographic economics", "@language": "en" } ], "isPartOf": { "@type": "PublicationIssue", "issueNumber": "67", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "ETLA Working Papers", "issn": [ "2323-2420", "2323-2439" ] } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://www.etla.fi/en/publications/the-influence-of-old-age-retirement-on-health-causal-evidence-from-the-finnish-register-data/", "url": "https://www.etla.fi/en/publications/the-influence-of-old-age-retirement-on-health-causal-evidence-from-the-finnish-register-data/", "associatedMedia": { "@type": "MediaObject", "@id": "https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-67.pdf", "encodingFormat": "application/pdf", "contentUrl": "https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-67.pdf" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.etla.fi/julkaisut/the-influence-of-old-age-retirement-on-health-causal-evidence-from-the-finnish-register-data/", "https://www.etla.fi/en/publications/the-influence-of-old-age-retirement-on-health-causal-evidence-from-the-finnish-register-data/", "https://www.etla.fi/sv/publikationer/the-influence-of-old-age-retirement-on-health-causal-evidence-from-the-finnish-register-data/" ] } ```