Part-Time Penalties and Heterogeneous Retirement Decisions

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Ogawa, Kanta
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866912448438599680
author Ogawa, Kanta
author_facet Ogawa, Kanta
contents Older male workers exhibit diverse retirement behaviors across occupations and respond differently to policy changes, influenced significantly by the part-time penalty-wage reduction faced by part-time workers compared to their full-time counterparts. Many older individuals reduce their working hours, and in occupations with high part-time penalties, they tend to retire earlier, as observed in data from Japan and the United States. This study develops a general equilibrium model that incorporates occupational choices, endogenous labor supply, highlighting that the impact on the retirement decision is amplified by the presence of assets and pensions. Using the Japanese Panel Study of Employment Dynamics, I find that cutting employees' pension benefits reduce aggregate labor supply in occupations with high part-time penalties, reducing overall welfare across the economy. Furthermore, a commonly used policy measure-extending the pension eligibility age-is also found to decrease both output and welfare. In contrast, this paper suggests that increasing income tax credits and exempting pension benefits from income taxation can boost labor supply across all occupations. These policies enhance welfare by raising disposable income relative to the reservation wage.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_17917
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Part-Time Penalties and Heterogeneous Retirement Decisions
Ogawa, Kanta
General Economics
Economics
91B40, 91B62
Older male workers exhibit diverse retirement behaviors across occupations and respond differently to policy changes, influenced significantly by the part-time penalty-wage reduction faced by part-time workers compared to their full-time counterparts. Many older individuals reduce their working hours, and in occupations with high part-time penalties, they tend to retire earlier, as observed in data from Japan and the United States. This study develops a general equilibrium model that incorporates occupational choices, endogenous labor supply, highlighting that the impact on the retirement decision is amplified by the presence of assets and pensions. Using the Japanese Panel Study of Employment Dynamics, I find that cutting employees' pension benefits reduce aggregate labor supply in occupations with high part-time penalties, reducing overall welfare across the economy. Furthermore, a commonly used policy measure-extending the pension eligibility age-is also found to decrease both output and welfare. In contrast, this paper suggests that increasing income tax credits and exempting pension benefits from income taxation can boost labor supply across all occupations. These policies enhance welfare by raising disposable income relative to the reservation wage.
title Part-Time Penalties and Heterogeneous Retirement Decisions
topic General Economics
Economics
91B40, 91B62
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.17917