On Monday, November 26, 2018, Annaïg-Charlotte PEDRANT, doctoral student in economics at theInstitute for Research in Management and Economics (IREGE), will defend her thesis entitled "Retirement and senior heterogeneity: the impact of public policy."
The defense will take place at 2 p.m. in Room 108 at IAE Savoie Mont Blanc, 4 chemin de Bellevue, on the Bourget-du-Lac campus.
Thesis summary
The aging population in developed countries is calling into question the sustainability of pay-as-you-go pension systems. Several reforms have therefore been undertaken to address this demographic challenge. However, the effects of the reforms implemented have been questioned. Their effectiveness depends on how seniors respond to the reforms. Seniors have very different profiles, particularly in terms of two dimensions: their work environment and their family situation. This heterogeneity among seniors can affect their retirement behavior. Failure to take into account this diversity in terms of the environments in which seniors live can therefore lead to bias in the evaluation of public policies. This thesis therefore uses econometric methods to analyze the determinants of the decision to retire, particularly the role of professional and family heterogeneity. First, the heterogeneity of individuals in terms of their professional environment is taken into account when analyzing the role of quality of life at work in the decision-making process surrounding retirement. Second, heterogeneity in terms of family environment is taken into account when analyzing the decision-making process within couples and the determinants of this process for each spouse. Finally, a public policy evaluation is carried out from the perspective of joint decisions within couples to test for the presence of spillover effects, via the spouse, of the reform on the individual's own retirement strategy. The results of this thesis highlight the important role of heterogeneity among seniors in retirement decisions. These results therefore encourage public decision-makers to take this heterogeneity among seniors into account. The coordination of social policies related to retirement, family, and quality of life at work is one way to address this heterogeneity among seniors.