49

# ENDNOTES

1. The 24 OECD nations are Australia, Austria, Belgium,<sup>Canada, Denmark, Finland, France,</sup> Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netheriands, NewZealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.

2. For a discussion of different definitions of retirement see Fields<sup>and Mitchell (1984b). There is</sup> relatively little research on the nature of older persons' labor<sup>force flows; for an examination of</sup> United States data see Quinn and others (1990).

3. Whether this long-term downward pattern in work at<sup>older ages will persis</sup><sup>**t**hroughou</sup><sup>**t**he next</sup> several decades Is unknown. There is emergent evidence<sup>that in the latter half of the 1980s the</sup> downward participation trend stabilized and In some cases even slightly reversed itself<sup>in a few</sup> nations. See OECD (1991). In the United States, for instance,<sup>labor force participation rates for</sup> mean age 60-64 In 1966 were 78%, they dropped to 54% In 1988,<sup>and then rose to 55.5% In</sup> 1990. For men age 65+, the male LFPR rate in 1966 was 27%,<sup>which fell to 15.8% by 1985 and</sup> then rose to 16.4% by 1990 (unpublishe **d** ata provided by<sup>the US Bureau of Labor Statistics).</sup> Nevertheless, it is premature to determine whether this trend reflects business<sup>cycle conditions,</sup> whether it resulted from curtailed early retirement policies, or whether<sup>it is part of a new long-run</sup> secular trend.

4. See Szalal (1991). Without discounting that evidence on dffferential<sup>life expectancies</sup> In Hungary, it should be noted that the availability of disability and sickness benefits probably does increase the incidence of reporting of illness, and reduces labor force participation<sup>rates, in at least some</sup> countries. For example Burkhauser (1993) points out that high disability benefits and relatively lenient qualification standards contribute to low work rates in<sup>Germany and the Netherlands.</sup>

- 5 . For instance, in the United States, 25 percent of early retirees and 12 percent of all retirees cited poor health as their reason for retirement (Fields and Mitchell<sup>1984b). Less information is</sup> available from other countries, though there may be somewhat greater age<sup>discrimination</sup> (Kohli and others 1991).

6. See Mitchell (1988a) for evidence on accident pattems by age in the<sup>United States; there is no</sup> Information on age profiles of job-related illness. The data show that worker<sup>over age 65 are</sup> slightly more likely to become fatally injured on the job than workers<sup>at younger ages.</sup> 7. On morbidity trends see Baily (1987). More research is needed on this<sup>topic in other countries</sup> as well.

8. In the United States, the government first prohibited firms from imposing<sup>mandatory retirement</sup> before age 65, then raised it to age 70, and eventually prohibited mandatory<sup>retirement in virtually</sup> all occupations. Most private sector employers are now prevented<sup>from using mandatory</sup> retirement; exempted groups are generally in the public sector and include<sup>judges, police, pilots,</sup> and firefighters. For a discussion of mandatory retirement policy, see<sup>Quinn et al. (1990) and</sup> Gustman and others (1992).

9. For instance, a survey of United States retirees by the Commonwealth Fund (1990) found that many claimed they were interested in employment.