Working time reductions at the end of the career: Do they prolong the time spent in employment?

In this paper, we study the effects on the survival rate in the employment of a scheme that facilitates gradual retirement through working time reductions. We use information on the entire labour market career and other observables to control for the selection and take dynamic treatment assignment into account. We also estimate a competing risks model considering different (possibly selective) pathways to early retirement. We find that participation in the scheme prolongs employment during the first 2 (4) years for men (women). However, when individuals become eligible for early retirement, the effect reverses. This suggests that TC initially improves the work-life balance, but that it eventually decreases labour market attachment and signals to employers a preference for early retirement. The institutional environment in which part-time participants are entitled to full-time pensions reinforces the latter process. Participation in TC seems also to generate a slight, statistically insignificant, improvement in health.