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Transitions between states of labor-force participation among older Israelis

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Abstract

The study examines the labor-force behavior of Israelis at older ages, focusing on the determinants of the transitions between states of labor-force participation between 2005 and 2010. The study uses panel data from the first two waves of the SHARE-Israel longitudinal survey. A multinomial logit model is used to examine the impact of sociodemographic characteristics, health state, and economic resources on labor-force transitions of people aged 50–67. The results emphasize the role of age and poor health in “pushing” older people out of the labor force or “keeping” them there. Spouse’s participation is found to encourage individuals to leave the labor force or to refrain from joining it. However, living with a participating spouse is negatively associated with staying out of the labor force, consistent with the dominance of the complementarity of leisure effect found in the literature. Wealth as an economic resource available to individuals for retirement is also found to encourage individuals to leave the labor force or to refrain from joining it.

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Acknowledgments

This paper uses data from SHARE wave 1 and 2 release 2.6.0, as of November 29th 2013. The SHARE data collection has been primarily funded by the European Commission through the 5th Framework Programme (project QLK6-CT-2001-00360 in the thematic programme Quality of Life), through the 6th Framework Programme (projects SHARE-I3, RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE, CIT5-CT-2005-028857, and SHARELIFE, CIT4-CT-2006-028812) and through the 7th Framework Programme (SHARE-PREP, N° 211909, SHARE-LEAP, N° 227822 and SHARE M4, N° 261982). Additional funding from the U.S. National Institute on Aging (U01 AG09740-13S2, P01 AG005842, P01 AG08291, P30 AG12815, R21 AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG BSR06-11 and OGHA 04-064) and the German Ministry of Education and Research as well as from various national sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org for a full list of funding institutions).

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the SHARE user conference, Liege BE, 28-29 November 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ruppin Academic Center and The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Jerusalem, Israel

    Leah Achdut

  2. Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Aviad Tur-Sinai

  3. Shamoon College of Engineering, Beersheba, Israel

    Rita Troitsky

Authors
  1. Leah Achdut
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  2. Aviad Tur-Sinai
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  3. Rita Troitsky
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Correspondence to Aviad Tur-Sinai.

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Responsible editor: M. Myck (guest editor) and H. Litwin.

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Achdut, L., Tur-Sinai, A. & Troitsky, R. Transitions between states of labor-force participation among older Israelis. Eur J Ageing 12, 39–49 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-014-0328-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-014-0328-6

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