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Correlational findings

Study Horner (2014): study ZZ EU 14 2004

Public
50-70 aged men, 16 western nations, 2004-2006
Survey name
Multiple surveys pooled
Sample
Respondents
N = 18345
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI)
face-to-face and computer-aided personal interview

Correlate

Authors's Label
Retirement status
Our Classification
Related specification variables
Operationalization
Selfreport of current employment status
1. Fully retired
0. Other
    a. Employed
    b. Self-employed
    c. Unemployed and looking for work
    d. Permanently sick or disabled
    e. Homemaker
    f. Other (rentier, living off own property, student, doing voluntary work)

Observed Relation with Happiness

Happiness Measure Statistics Elaboration / Remarks O-SLu-u-sq-nvt-7-a b = -.00 ns Fully retired (vs other)

Weighted by country population, controlled for
- country fixed-effect
- married
- age, age squared, age cubed
- season of interview

Unaffected by additionally control for
- period to early retirement age
  - if younger than cutoff
  - if older than cutoff
- period to full retirement age
  - if younger than cutoff
  - if older than cutoff
O-SLu-u-sq-nvt-7-a b-iv = +.44 p < .05 Instrumental Variables used
- reached early retirement age
- reached full retirement age

Similar for analyses
- without Ireland samples
- without USA sample
- 40-60 aged men
- 60-80 aged men

Somewhat stronger when additionally controlled for
- period to early retirement age
  - if younger than cutoff
  - if older than cutoff
- period to full retirement age
  - if younger than cutoff
  - if older than cutoff

Interpretation: b (OLS) underestimates the effect of retirement because unhappy people tend to retire earlier, whereas b-iv (Instumental Variable Analysis) reveals a positive effect.
O-SLu-u-sq-nvt-7-a d = 1.65 Considered to be a large effect size, similar to being married or not in this sample O-SLu-u-sq-nvt-7-a b-iv = + s Formal retirement age in country
- below age 65: b-iv = +.28 (05)
- above age 65: b-iv = +2.6 (001)