Elderly Labor Research Articles

The Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Mechanism of Rural Spatial Shrinkage in Local County, Southeast China

The rapid urbanization process has brought about the shrinkage of rural space as a typical issue. Nevertheless, due to the dearth of effective assessment approaches, the patterns of rural spatial shrinkage remain poorly grasped. This study intends to establish a quantitative assessment model to scientifically disclose the spatiotemporal characteristics and mechanisms of rural spatial shrinkage. The “Population-Industry-Function-Land” (PIFL) assessment model has been rigorously constructed, encompassing eight assessment indices, such as the ratio of permanent residents, rural population density, and the rate of abandoned cultivated land. The model was adopted to conduct an analysis of the spatial shrinkage scenarios of the 18 administrative villages in Panxi Town spanning from 2011 to 2021. The results indicate that the temporal dimension of rural spatial shrinkage exhibits an accelerating trend, with discernible declines or increases in the ratio of permanent residents, rate of the elderly labor force, and housing vacancy rate. The shrinkage of rural spaces displays spatial heterogeneity, with more pronounced shrinkage characteristics observed in villages located further from the central town. According to the comprehensive shrinkage index, the villages are categorized into four types: relative shrinkage (0.2447 ≤ Z ≤ 0.2462), mild shrinkage (0.2463 ≤ Z ≤ 0.4423), moderate shrinkage (0.4424 ≤ Z ≤ 0.6125), and severe shrinkage (0.6126 ≤ Z ≤ 0.7988). The research findings possess significant reference value for the governance of rural spatial shrinkage.

Analyzing Elderly Labour Participation: The Role of Intergenerational Cash Support, Financial and Loneliness in Malaysia

Objective – Malaysia's elderly population is expanding at an unprecedented rate, surpassing the pace of ageing in historically established 'aged nations.' Statisticians project that Malaysia will reach 'aged nation' status by 2030, a transition occurring more rapidly than any previously recorded. Methodology – The concept of productive aging is pivotal to national sustainability, implying that the elderly should remain active contributors to society, both socially and economically, to alleviate potential strain on governmental resources. This study probes the labour force participation of Malaysia's elderly by examining the influence of intergenerational cash support, financial status, and feelings of loneliness on their employment decisions. Findings – Employing bivariate and logistic regression analyses, the research conclusively demonstrates that these variables significantly affect labour force engagement among the aged. Specifically, the absence of cash support from employed adult children, lack of savings or investments, and experiences of loneliness increase the probability of the elderly re-entering the workforce. Novelty – The implications of these empirical findings are profound for policymakers, who can utilise this data to craft more nuanced policies aimed at incentivizing labour force re-entry among the elderly. Such policies could not only foster productive ageing but also mitigate the risks of an inactive elderly population during their later years. Type of Paper: Empirical JEL Classification: J14, J18, J22 Keywords: elderly people; financial status; intergenerational cash support; labour force participation; loneliness; sustainability Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Chung, C.F.; Voo, I.C.; Hamid, R.B.A. (2024). Analyzing Elderly Labour Participation: The Role of Intergenerational Cash Support, Financial, and Loneliness in Malaysia, J. Bus. Econ. Review, 9(1), 48–54. https://doi.org/10.35609/jber.2024.9.1(1)

Influence of Education, Health Complaints, Dependence, and Family Support on The Work Participation of the Population Elderly Age in Denpasar City

The ever-increasing life expectancy rate has shown that there has been economic progress, environmental improvements and advances in science, especially due to advances in medical science. The higher life expectancy shows the increasing number of elderly people, which of course will influence the increase in the absorption of elderly labor itself. The aim of this research is to analyze the influence of education, health complaints, number of dependents, and family support simultaneously and partially on the work participation of the elderly population in Denpasar City. In this study, the number of samples taken was 100 elderly people from 69,323 elderly people in Denpasar City. The sampling method used was a non-probability sampling method with a purposive sampling technique combined with accidental sampling. The data analysis techniques used are descriptive statistical analysis test, classical assumption test, multiple linear regression analysis test, F test and t test. The research results show that education, health complaints, number of dependents, and family support simultaneously and significantly influence the work participation of the elderly population in Denpasar City. Education, number of dependents, and family support partially have a positive and significant effect on the work participation of the elderly population in Denpasar City, while health complaints partially have a negative and significant effect on the work participation of the elderly population in the City of Denpasar.

Does maternity leave reform impact on the labour supply of the elderly? Evidence from a natural experiment in Vietnam

AbstractThe aging population has been rising rapidly in every country, slowing the labour force and causing lower per capita growth. Many policies incentivize working in old age as it can alleviate the challenges of the aging population. This study examines the impacts of the extended maternity leave reform in Vietnam on elderly labour market outcomes. As grandparents' childcare responsibility may be reduced by maternal childcare following the extended maternal leave, especially for elderly living with children smaller than 1 year old, the reform gives older adults or grandparents more flexibility to join the labour market. Using the difference‐in‐differences model, we find that older people in the treatment group are more likely to return to the labour market following the reform implementation. The effect is positive and most robust for the self‐employment group rather than waged employment and for males rather than females. Our study suggests that there is a need for a policy design to shift public finance into the healthcare and pension system.

Grandparental childcare, family allowances and retirement policies

The paper uses an OLG model to study the interaction between policies designed to ensure the sustainability of the pension system, i.e. child allowances and pensions policies, and grandparental childcare. We find that the rise in grandparenting negatively affects the elderly labour supply hampering the impact of pension policies designed to raise the retirement age and lengthen working lives. Then, we introduce child allowances and find that the impact of child allowances on the fertility rate is influenced by the efficiency of grandparenting in reducing child-rearing costs. Child benefits have a positive impact on fertility only if grandparenting is not very effective at reducing childcare costs. This suggests that the role of grandparents in various countries may partly explain the inconsistency in empirical evidence on the relationship between child benefits and fertility rates. The study also finds that child benefits have a positive impact on the elderly labour supply when grandparenting is efficient.

Reducing energy poverty by nearly universal pension coverage of rural China

This paper estimates the causal effect of income change on reducing energy poverty by exploiting age-based eligibility for China’s New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) through a regression discontinuity (RD) design. More than one billion people worldwide live in energy poverty, and the situation is even more difficult in developing world. It is an important development challenge to reduce energy poverty, which could be further associated with health outcome, labor productivity, and educational achievements. While public policies that increase income for poor households are the most direct ways to reduce energy poverty, the reverse causality makes establishing a convincing causal link between income and energy poverty challenging. Using the quasi-experimental variation in income induced by NRPS, this paper addresses the endogeneity of income and examines the impact of exogenous sharp changes in income on energy consumption behaviors. The findings indicate substantial increases in modern energy consumption and sizable reductions in solid fuels (e.g., straw and fuelwood), suggesting that “windfall income” by pension coverage alleviates energy poverty. Although individuals could anticipate the income shocks by pension coverage, the evidence suggests that they do not engage in anticipatory responses to smooth their consumption. Further evidence shows that liquidity constraints may be the underlying mechanism for the lack of anticipatory responses in household energy consumption. Besides reducing energy poverty, the results demonstrate that pension coverage leads to a decrease in elderly labor supply, an increase in subjective health and life satisfaction, and an increase in non-energy consumption, all of which are positively associated with the well-beings of senior citizens. We anticipate that the findings of this paper in the context of China may be extended to developing world which has been expected to set up targeted measures to tackle energy poverty in upcoming decades.

Research on the Solutions to the Chinese Labor Shortage Caused by Population Aging

China is facing the serious problem of population aging, and the labor shortage caused by population aging will also impact the future Chinese labor market. This paper uses the research method of literature review to compare the policies adopted by countries with severe aging, and then seeks a population policy suitable for China's aging. Labor mobility and multiple birth policies are not suitable for China's current national conditions. Based on China's current national conditions, the Chinese government can implement the two policies of extending the retirement period and training the elderly labor force, especially technological innovation, to further help China effectively solve the problem of population aging.

The Impact of "Reverse Feedback" on Elderly Labor Participation

This article is based on the 2018 China Health and Elderly Care Tracking Survey (CHARLS) data and uses the Logit model and propensity score matching method (PSM) to estimate the impact of "reverse feeding" behavior on elderly labor participation. Research has shown that providing financial support to children by elderly parents can encourage them to enter the labor market; The behavior of intergenerational care will inhibit their entry into the labor market; Providing economic support for children is more significant for elderly individuals living alone and men, while the negative impact of intergenerational care is more significant among women and elderly people living with their children. Therefore, it is necessary to further optimize the supply and service of early childhood care resources, protect the rights and interests of women to participate in labor, and improve the elderly care security system to build a scientific and reasonable elderly employment security system.

How Do Heterogeneous Land Development Opportunities Affect Rural Household Nonfarm Employment: A Perspective of Spatial Regulation

Heterogeneous land development opportunities induced by spatial regulation produce different advantages in areas, which undoubtedly differentiates farmers’ employment. The aim of this study was to quantitatively examine its impact. We selected Moshui Lake City Park (urban development planning area), Sino-French Eco-City (industrial development planning area), and Chenhu International Wetland (ecological protection planning area) as its principal research areas. These regions are all located in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. After obtaining 907 valid responses from rural households, the Tobit model was adopted to identify the impact of land development opportunities on farmers’ nonfarm employment. The results show that, first, industrial development opportunity (IDO) and urban development opportunity (UDO) provide more job security than the reference group, which is ecological development opportunity (EDO), with the estimated coefficients of IDO and UDO being 0.325 and 0.944, respectively. However, a negative correlation was found between UDO and farmers’ employment selection and income. Second, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect of land development opportunities on farmers’ employment is more significant for low- and middle-income, low-quantity, and high-quality households. Finally, further analysis shows that IDO can promote employment for all age groups, but UDO inhibits the elderly labor force from getting employed. These findings provide evidence-based insights which can enable the government to formulate land value-added distribution systems that promote balanced development between regions and stakeholders.

Research on Improving China's Agricultural Development Through High-quality Elderly Labor

Based on nowadays China's aging population and unbalanced development between urban and rural areas, rural revitalization of the urgent need of development of the status quo, reasonable hypotheses and research, this article through to the National Bureau of Statistics released data of population and the related literature research, as well as on the investigation to the actual situation that the resources of high quality senior citizens can reasonable use to some extent to reduce resource waste, and promote social development.

A Review of Literature on Sustainable Cities and Urban Ageing: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries

The proportion of the elderly population is increasing rapidly. This trend demands measures and actions that enable elderly people to stay active and self-sufficient as long as possible. However, in cities, elderly people are more vulnerable to climate change, and socioeconomic changes since most city environments are designed to support the working population. Therefore age-friendly living environments and facilities are necessary to promote active ageing. Sustainable cities and ageing populations have been researched widely as separate concepts, but these two have not been researched together. The paper provides a review of empirical research on sustainable cities and urban ageing by giving a special focus on challenges and opportunities for developing countries. The review identifies eight domains in age-friendly cities: (1) outdoor spaces and buildings; (2) transportation; (3) housing; (4) social participation; (5) respect and social inclusion; (6) civic participation and employment; (7) communication and information; and (8) community support and health services. Challenging areas include elderly labour force participation, elderly caring, social security, inclusive urban infrastructure, urban poverty, and peace and security. As a policy implication, collective efforts should be made to formulate policies and programmes to keep the active and productive elderly in the labour market, community development, and decision-making process.

Research on the Employment Relationship of Retired Workers

The article argues that "population aging" is a major problem facingChina today, and relevant laws and regulations need to keep up with the times. Closely linked to this is the increasing healthy life expectancy per capita and the expectation of most older people to continue working after retirement for the rest of their lives. There are a large number of elderly labor force in our country, and the idle labor resources of the elderly are a huge waste. There are a considerable number of retired re-employment groups in life, but the law of our country lacks protection for them. We should draw lessons from the laws and policies of other countries in the world and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the retired re-employment groups according to the actual situation of our country.

The Effect of Health on the Elderly's Labor Supply in Rural China: Simultaneous Equation Models With Binary, Ordered, and Censored Variables.

In this study, we examined the effect of health on the elderly's labor supply in rural China based on the data of the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1997 to 2006. We used simultaneous equations to address the endogeneity problem of health and estimate the models with censored data of labor supply by the full information maximum likelihood estimation. We found that the failing health does not significantly decrease the elderly's labor supply in rural areas when using both the subjective (self-reported health status) and objective (hypertension diagnosed or not) health indicators. Our finding indicates the phenomenon of “ceaseless toil” for the elderly in rural China, i.e., the elderly almost work their whole life even if they are not physically capable. The results remain robust when using a two-stage limited information maximum likelihood estimation.

Work stress, health and wellbeing: evidence from the older adults labor market in India

Older adults are the most vulnerable group in the labor market, given their physical and functional health risks. Moreover, they are also at a greater risk of psychological factors like work stress due to risk of age, ageism and social well-being. Given these challenges and the growing proportion of older adults in the developing world, this paper studies the theoretical connotation between work stress and health related wellbeing outcomes among working elderly in India. Using BKPAI survey this study adopts multiple modeling approach (descriptive analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and a logit regression model) to test the association between work stress and wellbeing and understand this theoretical connotation in elderly labor market. Our results confirm that work stress is found to be significantly associated with socio-economic and health risks like income, gender, education, morbidity, disability, and socio-psychological barriers among working older adults. Females are likely to have more risk for work stress [OR, 1.72; (95% CI 2.89–2.91)] than males. Similarly, more affluent groups (wealthiest) are less likely to have any work stress [OR, 0.38; (95% CI-0.25–0.58)]. Older adults with multi-morbidity are at greater odds of having work stress [OR 2.26; (95% CI-1.74–2.94)]. Work stress is a common issue that enhances at higher ages due to the work, health, and socio-economic vulnerability of older adults. The study finds a significant impact of these factors on work stress and therefore argues for a comprehensive policy approach to address the psychological health risk of the working older adults in the labor market.

Land reallocation responses to China's New Rural Pension Scheme: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design

This study examines how labor reallocation has been associated with land reallocation following the implementation of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) in 2009. Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) gathered during two periods (2013 and 2015), it uses the discrete changes generated by the new program's rules to identify the impact on land reallocation, as represented by the amount of land rented out by the elderly and their spouses. The age 60 NRPS eligibility threshold is associated with large increases in land rented out. The most important channel identified is the increase in the number of adult-children migrants, which reduces the number of farm workers and may help relax credit constraints. In contrast, the NRPS program has had no impact on the extent of elderly labor; there are no changes in their time spent caring for grandchildren or paid work in the labor market. A deeper examination of the welfare effect shows that despite labor and land reallocation, the NRPS has had no impact on either household consumption or elderly well-being. This study contributes to the literature by connecting land (as a factor of production) with the pension scheme, which may have policy implications regarding how money transfer programs would affect land and labor reallocation and individual welfare in other countries in the global context.

A Study on China's Tobacco Taxation and Its Influencing Factor on Economic Growth.

Tobacco is a significant product providing considerable economic benefits to countries worldwide, while its increased consumption causes health and socio-economic losses for smokers and non-smokers. This paper constructs a decomposition system of tobacco taxation: the population aging factor is included in the influencing factors of personal tax, and personal tax revenue is regarded as the product of tax structure, macro tax burden, regional economy, reciprocal aging, and the elderly population. This article conducts an empirical study on the relationship between taxation and economic growth. The estimated coefficients of business tax and corporate income tax are significant at the significance level of 0.1, with a consumption tax and time-variable coefficients reporting a 0.02 level of significance. The T statistic value and the explanatory degree of the variables involved in the model to the explained variables are also very high, reaching more than 95%. We find that increasing the macro tax burden negatively impacts economic growth. Therefore, the study suggests that for fostering the industry’s economic growth, the country needs to ensure the optimal macro tax burden of 17.5%, with different types of taxes influencing economic growth. Personal tax reform should pay attention to the phenomenon of aging, adjust the tax structure to increase personal tax income, provide policy support and guarantee for the elderly labor force, and encourage the re-employment of silver-haired people to alleviate the adverse impact of aging on taxation.

乡村振兴战略下农村老年人劳动参与的影响因素研究

乡村振兴战略下农村老年人劳动参与的影响因素研究

Pension incentives and labor supply: Evidence from the introduction of universal old-age assistance in the UK

We study the labor supply implications of the Old-Age Pension Act (OPA) of 1908, which, for the first time, provided pensions to older people in the UK. Using recently released census data covering the entire population, we exploit variation at the newly created age-based eligibility threshold. Our results show a considerable and abrupt decline in labor force participation of 6.0 percentage points (13%) when older workers reach the eligibility age of 70. To mitigate the impact of population aging today, pension reforms aimed at increasing elderly labor supply, however, have to induce much larger behavioral responses than the OPA.

Relationships between elderly employment and labor market outcomes of young and prime-age adults: Evidence from Korean longitudinal and cross-sectional data

ABSTRACT Along with an increase in the aging population, the elderly poverty rate is on the rise in Korea. As older people extend working years and delay retirement to secure their financial stability, it raises a concern that an increase in elderly employment may cause high youth unemployment. To understand the relationship between elderly employment and labor market outcomes of other age groups, we use the 1998–2017 Korea Labor and Income Panel Study and 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 Korean Population Census. Using a logistic regression model, we find that elderly employment has no relationship with youth employment but a statistically significant relationship with prime-age employment that varies by gender. While older men are likely to substitute for prime-age men, both older men and women are likely to complement prime-age women. Similar results hold for hours of work and weekly wages. The substitutability between older workers and prime-age workers varies by education, occupation, and industry type. The complementarity holds between older male and female workers and prime-age female workers in the less-educated group and the unstable and low-wage industry group and between older male workers and prime-age male workers in the sales and clerical occupation group and the production and service-related occupation group. Overall results suggest the need for expansion of employment opportunities for older adults in the areas with limited substitution to mitigate elderly poverty and improve economic security as older adults appear not to crowd out young and prime-age adults from the labor market.

Elderly Labour and Unemployment

Several reasons underlie the increased labour participation of older people in Japan. One reason is the subsidy for the labour supply of elderly people. This article presents an examination of how this subsidisation of the labour supply of elderly people affects the labour participation of young and elderly people and unemployment. Consequently, an aging society brought about by an increase in the survival rate and the subsidy for elderly labour raise the employment rate and labour participation rate of elderly people in a temporary equilibrium model. This result is consistent with the real world. However, considering the steady state in a closed economy under which capital accumulation is considered, the effect of this subsidy on the employment rate and labour participation of elderly people is slight because of a decrease in the wage rate. JEL: J21