Cluster-Seminar Public Finances and Living Conditions

We combine unique data that include all practitioner health diagnoses based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) collected from all publicly insured individuals in Germany with a sizable cohort specific pension reform to study the causal effect of an increase in the retirement age on health. For the analysis, we use a cohort specific regression discontinuity design. The data allow us to quantify the causal effect of a raise in the retirement age on specific objective health outcomes, which enables us to disentangle the health effects of along different health dimensions. Broad or subjective outcomes, as mostly used in the literature so far, might aggregate and disguise negative and positive implications for different health dimensions. Our results suggest negative effects of an increase in the early retirement age on mental health and some musculoskeletal diagnoses. We do not find effects for metabolic/nutritional and  heart/circulatory diagnoses as well as health care consumption.