The Effects of Pensions and Earnings on Retirement: A Review Essay

Does retirement behavior react predictably to economic incentives? Evidence on this question would be useful to policy makers responsible for work and retirement programs affecting the elderly. This paper reviews the lessons and limitations of recent economics literature on pensions, earnings, and retirement. Section I develops the life cycle context for analyzing this problem. Theoretical literature is examined in Section II, followed by a review of the empirical literature in Section III. Conclusions appear at the end of each Section.