Healthier when retiring earlier? Evidence from France

This paper contributes to the literature on the health-retirement relationship by looking at the effect of retiring before legal age on health in later life in France. To account for the endogeneity of the early retirement decision, our identification strategy relies on eligibility rules to a long-career early retirement scheme introduced in France in 2004 that substantially increased the proportion of older workers leaving their last job before the legal age of 60 years. We find a positive correlation between early retirement and health problems among male retirees. However, we fail to find any significant causal effect of early retirement on poor health once we account for the endogeneity of the decision to retire before the legal age. Controlling for working conditions does not influence the effect of retirement and occupying a demanding job is harmful to health after retirement regardless of the retirement date. Similar results are found for female retirees.     

De invloed van de keuze der gewichten op de hoogte van een gewogen indexcijfer

The influence of the choice of the weights on the value of an indexnumber.
Price and quantity indexnumbers are weighted averages of groups of price and quantity ratios and they are convenient instruments to indicate the general tendency of such groups, especially if the number of basic ratios is considerable. The frequent use of indexnumbers is due to the fact that they can often be applied to problems for which, strictly speaking, an indexnumber had to be used derived from the same group of ratios but based on a different set of weights.
Two typical examples of such problems are given.
The use of a set of weights differing from the appropriate one is only justified, however, when the indexnumber is rather insensitive to changes in the set of weights. A simple formula is derived showing that the relative change of an index-number due to a change in the set of weights is equal to the product of the (weighted) coefficient of variation of the basic ratios, the (weighted) standard deviation of the relative changes of the weights and the (weighted) coefficient of correlation of the ratios and of the relative changes. The system of weights used in the calculation of these three factors is the same and is equal to the set of true weights belonging to the problem under consideration.
The practical use of the formula is demonstrated at the problem of index-numbers of costs frequently encountered in the practice of cost accounting.     

Insecure old-age security

In this paper, we examine the old-age security hypothesis accordingto which parents rear children because they expect the latterto care for them in their later years. In developing countrieswhere there are no perfect capital markets, children are usuallyviewed as a potential source of income and as a time-relatedsupport in old age. However, investing in children remains risky.By focusing on uncertainty about the parental consumption duringold age, we show that there exists a precautionary motive forthe demand for children so that fertility of prudent parentsis expected to increase.     

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THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD DISPOSABLE WEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES

In this study, new estimates are presented of the size distribution of household wealth in the U.S. in 1969. Compared to previous studies, its major advance is the inclusion of all marketable or discretionary household assets and liabilities and their alignment with national balance sheet totals. Household disposable wealth (HDW) is defined as the sum of all marketable or fungible assets held by households less liabilities. The Gini coefficient for HDW is 0.72, the share held by the richest one percent of households is 31 percent, and the share held by the top five percent is 49 percent. There is, however, a large variation in the concentration of different household assets. The Gini coefficient is 0.30 for household durables and inventories, 0.69 for equity in owner-occupied housing, 0.94 for bonds and securities, and 0.98 for corporate stock. HDW is then divided into two mutually exclusive components. The first, called "life-cycle wealth," is defined as the sum of equity in owner-occupied housing, durables, household inventory, demand deposits and currency, and the cash value of life insurance and pensions less consumer debt. This form of wealth tends to be accumulated over the life-cycle for either consumption, liquidity, or retirement purposes. The second, called "capital wealth," is the sum of time and savings deposits, bonds and securities, corporate stock, business and investment real estate equity, and trust fund equity. Life-cycle wealth is substantially less concentrated than capital wealth. The Gini coefficient for it is 0.59, while that for capital wealth is 0.88. Moreover, among the lower wealth groups, over 80 percent of household wealth takes the form of life-cycle wealth, whereas among the top wealth groups the proportion is under 20 percent. The results suggest substantially different savings motivations between the two groups.     

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TRENDS IN HOUSEHOLD WEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES, 1962–83 AND 1983–89

Using the 1983 and 1989 Surveys of Consumer Finances, I find evidence of sharply increasing house-hold wealth inequality over this period. Whereas mean wealth increased by 23 percent in real terms, median wealth grew by only 8 percent. The share of the top one-half percentile rose by five percentage points, while the wealth of the bottom two quintiles showed an absolute decline. The Gini coefficient increased from 0.80 to 0.84. Almost all the growth in real wealth accrued to the top 20 percent of wealthholders. In contrast, the degree of wealth inequality was almost identical in 1983 as in 1962, and real wealth growth was more evenly distributed across the wealth distribution. There is also evidence that the sharp increase in wealth inequality from 1983 to 1989 was due to a correspondingly sharp rise in income inequality, the increase of stock prices relative to housing prices, and relatively slow inflation.     

What's behind the rise in profitability in the US in the 1980s and 1990s?

Profitability in the US has been rising since the early 1980sand by 1997 was at its highest level since its post-World WarII peak in the mid-1960s, and the profit share, by one definition,at its highest point. In this paper, I examine the role of thechange in the profit share and capital intensity, as well asstructural change, on movements in the rate of profit between1947 and 1997. Its recent recovery is traced to a rise in theprofit share in national income, a slowdown in capital–labourgrowth at the industry level, and employment shifts to relativelylabour-intensive industries.     

Emigration intentions of Roma: evidence from Central and South-East Europe

The Roma constitute the largest, poorest and youngest ethnic minority group in Europe. Over the last few years, they have attracted unprecedented attention with the fear of massive waves of emigrants to Western European countries. Using unique comparative data from 12 Central and South-East European countries, we study the pattern and determinants of Roma emigration intentions. We find that plans to go abroad are more frequent among Roma compared to non-Roma, but the ethnic gap in emigration intentions is not explained by the more disadvantaged characteristics of Roma compared to non-Roma. Among the Roma population, potential emigrants are more educated and wealthier on average. Finally, ethnic discrimination is a very influential factor that explains the intentions to emigrate within the Roma population.