Martsella Davitaya

Martsella Davitaya

The primary difficulty in studying the effect of retirement income on labor supply is that factors that affect retirement income correlate with the labor force participation rate. Using the Health and Retirement Study and Social Security Administration income data, I overcome this difficulty by utilizing the fact that the Social Security benefit is a function of the economic conditions when the worker turns 60. My estimates suggest that the labor supply elasticity of older workers is -0.19 at the extensive margin and -0.57 at the intensive margin. This estimate is relevant for studying the effects of macroeconomic shocks on the employment of older workers, optimization of public and fiscal policies, and calibration of life-cycle models.