Document Type
Working Paper
Date of this Version
5-1-2016
Abstract
We survey the recent literature on the effects of retirement on cognitive functioning at older ages. We describe results from studies using similar data sets (HRS, SHARE and ELSA), definitions of cognition, and instruments to capture causal effects. The studies yield widely varying results. Most papers find that being retired leads to a decline of cognition, controlling for different specifications of age functions and other covariates. However, richer specifications using fixed effects, dynamic specifications, or alternative specifications of instrumental variables often lead to large changes in the size and significance of the estimated effects. We replicate several of these results using the same data sets. We discuss the factors that are likely causing the differences across specifications, including endogeneity of right hand side variables, and heterogeneity across gender, occupation or skill levels.
Working Paper Number
WP2016-13
Copyright/Permission Statement
All findings, interpretations, and conclusions of this paper represent the views of the author(s) and not those of the Wharton School or the Pension Research Council. © 2016 Pension Research Council of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.
Date Posted: 06 March 2019
Comments
The published version of this Working Paper may be found in the 2017 publication: Financial Decision Making and Retirement Security in an Aging World.