Mandatory Retirement Research Articles

An Integral Equation Representation for Optimal Retirement Strategies in Portfolio Selection Problem

In this paper we study the consumption and portfolio selection problem of a finitely-lived economic agent with an early retirement option, that is, the agent can choose her/his early retirement time before a mandatory retirement time. Based on the theoretical results in Yang and Koo (Math Oper Res, 43(4):1378–1404, 2018), we derive an integral equation satisfied by the optimal retirement boundary or free boundary using the Mellin transform technique. We also derive integral equation representations for the optimal consumption-portfolio strategies and the optimal wealth process. By using the recursive integration method, we obtain the numerical solutions for the integral equations and discuss economic implications for the optimal retirement strategies by using numerical solutions.

Articulation of the shallow inclusion and deep exclusion of older adults from the Ghanaian policy terrain

The paper examines how the Ghanaian policy environment shapes access inequalities in well-being at old age, utilizing qualitative and quantitative datasets obtained from individuals aged 50+ (n = 230). The results show from older people (70%) that aged policy extensively excludes older adults. This denotes an incomprehensible policy domain that comprises the constitution, social protection policy, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) act, and the national ageing policy. The challenge is the mandatory retirement age is 60 years; while the compartmentalization of the NHIS free healthcare provision is for those aged 70+, the Welfare Card (EBAN) provides access to social amenities, including transportation, to older people 65+ at a discount of 50%. However, older adults are not a homogenous group. These policies address needs of the aged incoherently, with currency across the spheres of social exclusion and inclusion. However, a policy is a key resource, the limitation of which may have dire repercussions, including ageism. This has broader implications for social, economic, political exclusion regarding multi-dimensional facets of healthcare and labor force participation. These are discussed in light of the three pillars of ageing social policy, namely healthcare, paid work, and social care. The paper argues that government policy is skewed towards children, youth, gender, and education, despite older adults' increasing population, without an appreciation for concrete and determinate policies.

Does the Early Release of Retirement Savings Prolong Labour Market Participation for Workers Approaching Retirement? Evidence from Australia's 'Transition to Retirement Income Streams' Program

Australia's Transition to Retirement Income Streams (TRIS) program aims to prolong participation for older workers (age 55 to 65 years) by offering early access to a worker's compulsory retirement savings (superannuation). Using a difference-in-difference design, our results suggest a small labour supply response which increases after the program's initial years. The size of the effects appear consistent with the program adoption profile which was low initially. For this reason, the results should be viewed as a lower bound on the true effects. We find individuals with higher incomes are more likely to adopt TRIS. At least half of program participants appear to be employing strategies to minimise tax, a behavioural response which seems at odds with the program's intent.

Running out of steam? A political incentive perspective of FDI inflows in China

Drawing on the sociological literature of state bureaucracy, we develop a political incentive perspective on FDI inflows. We argue that political term, as a core feature of career advancement in state bureaucracy, influences the incentives of newly appointed government officials and in turn their efforts toward achieving the state’s goal of attracting FDI. Due to the mandatory retirement age which limits the career advancement, officials in their first terms perceive that they have better chances of promotion and hence have stronger incentives to work toward advancement than those continuing to serve in the current position for the following term. We test this argument by examining Chinese city government leaders and FDI inflows in their cities from 2003 to 2010, using a difference-in-differences design. The results show that first-term leaders, who are newly appointed after political turnover, attract more FDI inflows than continuing leaders. The difference is smaller when the new leaders are close to retirement, but greater if they are appointed to cities with low prior GDP performance. This study offers a new perspective on intra-country FDI variations, and extends the literature on the role of political institutions by investigating the political incentives of government officials.

Prevalence of Depression in Retirees: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Retirement is a final life stage characterized by the ceasing of work and the loss of a routine, social relations, role, status, accomplishments, and aspirations, etc. Many times it is accompanied by negative feelings and can provoke different psychoemotional reactions such as depression, among others. The aim of this study is to analyze the prevalence of depression, as well as its psychoeducational approach in retirees. Methods: A paired systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted in different databases—Medline, Scopus, CUIDEN, CINAHL, LILACS and PsycINFO. Original studies were included in English, Spanish and French that were published in the last 10 years, and which approached depression in retirees. Results: A total of 11 articles were selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean value of the prevalence levels of depression in retirees obtained in the meta-analysis was 28%. Depression is more frequent in retirees, with mandatory retirement, retirement due to illness, and anticipated retirement presenting higher levels of this disease. The health role in the psychoeducational approach is highlighted in 41.6% (n = 5). Conclusions: With almost one-third of retirees suffering from depression, it is necessary to implement prevention and early detection measures to approach a public health problem.

Profile of retired employees of civil service attending pension management office in Nepal

The retirement decision can significantly affect an individual's well‐being for many years. There are many reasons and issues for retirement decision for a government official. Financial and health concerns are a major part of the retirement decision but there are other issues that bring about the retirement decision that are unrelated to an individual's financial and health status. In Nepal, majority of government workers have compulsory retirement due to age concern. To study the profile of the retired employees and their perception toward retirement. A descriptive cross‐sectional research methodology was used in this study. About 85% (out of 105) of the retired employees attending Pension Management Office were male, which was due to the absence of female inclusiveness in employment before 2006. There were several reasons for retirement. The most common reason for being retired was the compulsory retirement, which was followed by the reasons of poor health and family problems, each counting about 14.2%. Most of the retired employees, that is, 48.5% (51) rated the retirement program as fair and about 42% (44) rated it as poor. Preserving the skilled and productive manpower in civil service is equally important as the nation has greater effort in building them up in terms of career and capacity.

When do you Retire? Examining Intended Retirement Age Decision among Public Sector Employees in Sri Lanka


 With the growing number of ageing population in Sri Lanka and continuous expansion in the public sector employment tend to create dynamic consequences on the economy. While mandatory retirement age in the public sector is forcing the employees to quit from the job yet rising ageing population in the country is seeking for employment opportunities for retirees. Hence, the objective of this study is to find out factors affecting intended retirement age decision among the public sector employees in Sri Lanka. The theoretical lens used in the study is theory of planned behaviour. This is a quantitative study which applied stepwise regression and path analysis to examine the factors affecting intended retirement age. The sample was consisted of 400 staff grade public sector officials and conducted a survey through a self-administered questionnaire. The results indicated that perceived health and attitudes of the employees towards the retirement are the major factors influenced on intended retirement age decision among the public sector employees. Employees’ job satisfaction and family relationships have some impact whilst anticipated financial position has a minor impact on intended retirement age. The findings indicated the public sector organizations need to introduce health insurance schemes for employees and to maintain an attractive organizational environment and friendly organizational culture to inculcate positive attitudes towards working environment in order to delay the retirement of the employees.

“The Important Consideration, After All, Is Disability”: Physical Standards for Teachers in Los Angeles, 1930–1970

Ideas and norms about disability shaped the experiences and careers of every teacher and prospective teacher in the Los Angeles public schools between 1930 and 1970. Medical doctors created and conducted the extensive medical examinations that teaching candidates and practicing teachers needed to pass to enter or remain in the classroom. The Los Angeles City Board of Education capitalized on existing disability-related retirement policies, targeting educators with age-related disabilities and enacting a compulsory retirement age for all teachers. Teachers accused of disability-related incompetence could only retain their positions if they could disprove their diagnoses. By adding this discussion of teachers’ bodies and disability to the historiography of teachers, we can better understand teachers’ experiences and the ways in which school leaders attempted to define and enforce standards of normality.

Dignity and Transcultural Forensic Consultation.

We analyze and comment on a legal case (Edward Gatherer v. Drexel Gomez, 1989) from Barbados. We theorize that in this kind of case a forensic psychiatrist consultant could helpfully advise the principals regarding pitfalls to avoid in resolving their conflict. Use of the consultant has certain advantages over taking such disputes to courts of law. In this case the rector of an Anglican Church in Barbados sued the bishop of his diocese. At question was whether the mandatory retirement age of 65 years applied to the rector. The case was eventually appealed to the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and their decision was rendered in June 1992 in favor of the plaintiff. We describe a reference framework of techniques and methods that we think would be useful in this hypothetical forensic consultation. One important aspect of the analysis and case commentary is that going to court circumvents the obligation of those having disputes in this unique space to safeguard each other's dignity. The court system ignores reconciliation of the disputants to each other and to the Church body. We explore the complexity that attaches to transcultural forensic consultation.

Determinants of Cash Holdings in Private Firms: The Case of the Slovenian SMEs

This paper examines the determinants of cash holdings in a large sample of the Slovenian small and medium sized companies in the period 2006-2013. The empirical results provide support for the transactions and precautionary motives in the cash policies of the analysed SMEs. However, we find evidence in favour of the speculative motive as well, by ascertaining that smaller, exporting and more profitable firms hold more cash. The paper also establishes that the net working capital and financial debt can be considered as cash substitutes and that keeping close relationships with banks reduces agency costs and information asymmetries and leads to lower cash levels. In addition, the ability to internally generate funds expressed as higher operating cash flow reduces the amounts of cash held. Finally, evidence shows that longer cash conversion cycles and requirements for mandatory retirement benefit contributions result in higher cash balances, while weaker empirical support is found also for the negative influence of the interest rate level on cash holdings. https://doi.org/10.15458/ebr95

Competitiveness of Mexican pension funds and regulatory policy

Se evalúa la competitividad de los fondos de pensión obligatorios mexicanos y el impacto de la deuda pública sobre los rendimientos. Se calculan detalladamente comisiones y tasas de rendimiento, y su relación con tasas pagadas por bonos federales. Mediante modelos de regresión de efectos fijos y SUR se mide el impacto de la deuda pública sobre los rendimientos. Los resultados muestran que: (a) estos fondos son la mejor opción de ahorro disponible para los trabajadores; (b) los proveedores convergieron a comisiones similares medidas en pesos; (c) los rendimientos son históricamente muy similares entre los proveedores; (d) el riesgo de pérdidas aumenta por una diversificación inadecuada; y (e) una mayor deuda pública bajo los rendimientos. Recomendaciones de política pública: (i) un menor peso de la deuda pública y diversificación internacional pueden mejorar los rendimientos; (ii) los trabajadores deben ser informados del valor monetario de las comisiones. No se estudian los efectos sobre trabajadores de diferentes niveles salariales o el rol de la informalidad. El cálculo detallado de comisiones, tasas de rendimiento e impacto de la deuda pública, es una contribución original.

The Chair's Role in Leveraging Multigenerational Workforce Strategies in Times of Crisis

The Chair's Role in Leveraging Multigenerational Workforce Strategies in Times of Crisis

The Costs and Benefits of Retirement Policies at U.S. Audit Firms

The mandatory retirement age within U.S. Big 4 audit firms ranges from 55 to 62, which has attracted controversy and legal scrutiny. The potential costs of an earlier retirement age include the loss of established networks, experience, and expertise. However, studies in non-U.S. jurisdictions conclude that partners nearing retirement disengage from their work, which manifests in lower audit quality. Using intensive hand-collected data on the age of 3,148 U.S. audit partners, we provide the first evidence of the costs and benefits of mandatory retirement policies at U.S. audit firms. We find that audit quality does not vary, but that fees are significantly higher for U.S. partners approaching retirement. These findings suggest that U.S. mandatory retirement policies are forcing out experienced revenue earners that are producing audit quality equivalent to younger partners. Additional analysis reveal that partner retirements are mechanisms to promote and grow the client portfolios of younger and female audit partners, and therefore increase partner diversity. Our additional analysis of non-U.S. audit partners leading audits of U.S. listed companies shows that partners approaching retirement are associated with lower audit quality across certain measures. This suggests that the audit quality of older U.S. partners is superior to their non-U.S. counterparts.

A scenario to safely ease the covid-19 lockdown while allowing economic recovery

If they work as expected, the strict containment measures enforced to stop the French Covid-19 epidemic will leave a large proportion of the population "naive" about the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In these conditions, how can we prevent the epidemic from rebounding, at a time when this restrictive policy will soon become untenable economically and socially? Based on the figures, now well known, of the lethality of covid-19 according to age classes, I suggest that a gradual release of the containment be instituted, which will keep retirees in isolation (the 65+ age class), whose risk is maximal and the impact on economic production the lowest. This scenario might be applicable to most European countries that enforce mandatory retirement ages for most of workers.

A scenario to safely ease the covid-19 lockdown while allowing economic recovery

If they work as expected, the strict containment measures enforced to stop the French Covid-19 epidemic will leave a large proportion of the population "naive" about the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In these conditions, how can we prevent the epidemic from rebounding, at a time when this restrictive policy will soon become untenable economically and socially? Based on the figures, now well known, of the lethality of covid-19 according to age classes, I suggest that a gradual release of the containment be instituted, which will keep retirees in isolation (the 65+ age class), whose risk is maximal and the impact on economic production the lowest. This scenario might be applicable to most European countries that enforce mandatory retirement ages for most of workers.

The Future of Work: The Gig Economy and Pressures on the Tax System

In a number of common-law jurisdictions, gig workers (that is, workers who provide services through the use of web-based digital platforms) have recently sought to claim labour protections reserved for employees, such as the minimum wage, sick leave, and protection from unfair dismissal. These cases often involve the application of the multifactorial common-law test of employment to this new context, and the outcomes turn on the specifics of each case. In addition, classification as an employee has ramifications for a variety of tax matters. In this paper, the author considers whether the tax rules currently in place to capture non-standard employment arrangements have sufficient flexibility to capture gig workers. The focus of the analysis is Australian taxes (in particular, income tax, compulsory retirement savings contributions, and payroll tax), but reference is also made to similar issues under the laws of Canada. The author submits that, with respect to Australian income tax, gig work does not present a substantial risk to the tax base as a legal matter; however, a risk to the national revenue base comes from the compliance gap that is exposed when workers are no longer covered by employers' withholding mechanisms but are not picked up by tax administration regimes designed with larger businesses in mind. The author suggests that reliance on the registration of small businesses through the Australian business number, coupled with a new mandatory reporting regime for gig work platforms, would go a long way toward filling the transparency gap, and that doing so would both foster the voluntary compliance of gig workers and provide revenue authorities with data that could be used to detect non-compliance. A real risk exists that many gig workers will be outside the scope of the retirement contributions scheme and payroll tax and that the government, in consequence, will need to consider whether it is appropriate policy to change the law to include these on-demand workers.

Factors Associated with Employees’ Choice of Mandatory Retirement Plan: The Case of Malaysian Public Universities

This study examines the factors that influence public sector employees in making adecision to enroll in either one of the two types of mandatory retirement plans. A surveyof 348 Malaysian public universities employees was conducted, and the data obtainedwere analyzed using a logistic regression model. The results show that knowledge, planfeature, sources of retirement income, health status, job mobility, and extending workare the contributing factors of the choice of the retirement plan. Apart from extendingthe extant literature on retirement plan, this study provides further understanding ofthe employees’ retirement decision in a different scenario of retirement systems.

In the United States Court for the Western District of Arkansas (5:14-cv-05135): Violation of Rights of a Parent and Visual Artist

Litigation challenging the aging US oligarchy of Article III justices that denies the right to be tried by a jury of peers and demands the FCC declare [sic] internet wire communications to be the Title II venue these have always been as well as asking for an Act of Congress establishing mandatory retirement of Article III judges. This paper also reveals and proves indisputably the intentionally misspelled Copy[rite] Act of 1790 as the reason the United States has never recognized the moral human rights of artists to control immoral art.

Mandatory Retirement for Judges Improved Performance on U.S. State Supreme Courts

Anecdotal evidence often points to aging as a cause for reduced work performance. This paper provides empirical evidence on this issue in a context where performance is measurable and there is variation in mandatory retirement policies: U.S. state supreme courts. We find that introducing mandatory retirement reduces the average age of working judges and improves court performance, as measured by output (number of published opinions) and legal impact (number of forward citations to those opinions). Consistent with aging effects as a contributing factor, we find that older judges do about the same amount of work as younger judges, but that work is lower-quality as measured by citations. However, the effect of mandatory retirement on performance is much larger than what would be expected from the change in the age distribution, suggesting that the presence of older judges reduces the performance of younger judges. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

How do Individual Politicians Affect Privatization? Evidence from China

This paper investigates how politicians’ patronage connections affect privatizations in China. The connections to top political leaders (i.e., Central Committee of the Communist Party of China) make local politicians engage more in rent-seeking by selling state-owned enterprises (SOEs) at substantial discounts. These connected local politicians are also more protected in anti-corruption investigations, thus extracting more rents by selling SOE assets at substantial discounts. Consequently, the privatizations conducted by the local politicians with patronage connections achieve significantly lower gains in efficiency and performance. To identify the role of patronage connection in privatization, we use the mandatory retirement age cut-offs of Central Committee members in the regression discontinuity design. We find drops in price discounts of privatization deals and jumps in efficiency for privatized SOEs when local politicians lose connections to Central Committee members around the retirement age cut-offs.