Working Papers in Economics,
University of Bergen, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper studies the effect of one spouse’s retirement on the Retirement of the other using a Norwegian early reform, which reduced the retirement age for workers in selected firms. The findings indicate that after the reform, the spouses of those who could retire earlier were less likely to remain in the workforce compared to the spouses of those who were not included in the early retirement scheme. This finding is compatible with preferences for shared spousal leisure. Contrary to previous findings, wives respond to husbands’ early retirement decisions. However, the findings are less conclusive with respect to husbands’ response to wives’ early retirement decisions. An investigation of the responding wives’ labor market exit strategy reveals that the reform increased their likelihood of retiring with a disability pension, representing a cost to public finance incurred in addition to the general retirement costs. This study contributes to other recent evidence on the influence of of non-health-related factors on the use of disability benefits among older workers.

Keywords: Joint retirement; disability pension; older workers

JEL-codes: D04; H55; J14; J26

35 pages, September 24, 2015

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