We develop a simple model of labor market participation, human capital degradation, and re-training. We focus on how non-participation, as a distinct state from unemployment and employment, is determined by the welfare system in interaction with labor market conditions and personal characteristics. We provide a tractable framework to analyze how the decisions to exit the labor force and to miti...

The effect of obesity on labor-market outcomes has been studied to some extent, as well as the related effects of beauty and health. Generally, results have differed by gender. Limited effects have been found for males, while obesity is found to affect females negatively in the labor market. The case of Iceland is interesting as many would argue that the labor-market behavior of the genders dif...

The labor supply incentives provided by the early retirement rules of the United States Social Security Old Age benefits program are of growing importance as the Normal Retirement Age (NRA) increases to 67, and the labor force participation of Older Americans starts to increase. These incentives allow individuals who claim benefits before the NRA but continue to work, or return to the labor for...

This paper presents one of the first formal dynamic models of job search by older individuals. It also presents an empirical analysis of job search behavior among this population using the Health and Retirement Study. Several factors currently compound to make the topic of this research an important one in the agenda of the Economics of Aging: ongoing demographic, epidemiological, socio-economi...

This paper compares the effects that the OBRA93 expansion of the EITC had on the labor force participation of single mothers with two or more children to those on single mothers with only one child. The structure of this expansion allows us to treat it as a natural experiment using difference-indifference techniques. In particular, the difference in the change in labor force participation of si...

Many countries around the world are simultaneously experiencing an aging labor force, sharp reductions in the labor force participation rates of older workers, and high unemployment among younger workers. In response, some governments have encouraged early retirement by the elderly to free up jobs for the young, while others have adopted policies that promote old-age labor force participation. ...

This paper studies the impact of income and payroll taxes on intensive and extensive labor supply decisions for workers ages 55-74 using the Health and Retirement Study. The literature provides little guidance about the responsiveness of this population to tax incentives, though the tax code is potentially an important mechanism that can alter retirement incentives. We model labor force partici...

In Spain, women’s labor force participation has drastically shifted in the decades since Francisco Franco’s dictatorship collapsed. Changes in government policy and evolving social attitudes have affected the treatment of women and their access to economic opportunities. Using The World Bank and OECD labor force statistics for Spain, this study compares Spain’s historical data with that of Fran...

All across Europe, old age labor force participation has declined dramatically during the last decades. This secular trend coincides with population aging. The European social security systems therefore face a double threat: Retirees receive pensions for a longer time while there are less workers per retiree to shoulder the financial burden of the pension systems. This paper shows that a signif...

Th e paper contributes by providing new insights into the relationship between female labor force and economic growth in 162 world countries over the period 19902012. It was hypothesized that an analysis would reveal a U-shaped relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth. Th e analysis is run from two diff erent perspectives – in the fi rst, the relationship is exa...