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The Impact of Retirement on Smoking Behavior

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Abstract

We use data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the relationship between retirement and smoking decisions. Retirement might affect smoking behavior through a change in the opportunity cost of time, job-related factors or income. To estimate the causal effect of retirement on smoking habits, we exploit eligibility for Social Security benefits at age 62 to account for the endogeneity of retirement. We find suggestive evidence that retirement increases the probability of smoking among ever smokers, but this effect is sensitive to the econometric specification used. We also find evidence of heterogeneity in the impact of retirement.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Grant Number R01AG027045 from the National Institute on Aging to Yale University. I am grateful to W. David Bradford, Jason Fletcher, Delia Furtado, Maarten Lindeboom, Martin Salm, and Jody Sindelar for helpful comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to seminar participants at Yale University, University of Memphis, University of Iowa, Tilburg University and participants at the American Society of Health Economists, Southern Economic Association, and Eastern Economic Association conferences for their feedback.

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  1. Department of Health Management and Policy, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, 145N. Riverside Drive, Iowa City, 52242, IA, USA

    Padmaja Ayyagari

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  1. Padmaja Ayyagari
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Ayyagari, P. The Impact of Retirement on Smoking Behavior. Eastern Econ J 42, 270–287 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/eej.2014.51

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