Showing papers by "Eric French published in 2021"
TL;DR: Overall, declines in health explain up to 15% of the decline in employment between ages 50 and 70, and the effects drop with education and are larger in the US than in England.
Abstract: Estimates of effect of health on employment differ from study to study due to differences in methods, data, institutional background and health measure. We assess the importance of these differences, using a unified framework to interpret and contrast estimate for the US and England. We find that subjective and objective health measures, and subjective measures instrumented by objective measures produce similar estimates but only if a sufficiently large number of objective measures is used. Otherwise, objective measures produce downward biased estimates. Failure to account for initial conditions produces upward biased estimates. We find that a single subjective health index yields similar estimates to multiple measures. Overall, declines in health explain up to 15% of the decline in employment between ages 50 and 70. The effects drop with education and are larger in the US than in England. Cognition has little added explanatory power once we control for health.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors estimate a rich model of retired singles and couples with bequest motives and uncertain longevity and medical expenses, and show that while medical expenses are an important driver of the savings of middle-income singles, bequest motivations matter for couples and high-income single, and generate transfers to non-spousal heirs whenever a household member dies.
Abstract: While the savings of retired singles tend to fall with age, those of retired couples tend to rise. We estimate a rich model of retired singles and couples with bequest motives and uncertain longevity and medical expenses. Our estimates imply that while medical expenses are an important driver of the savings of middle-income singles, bequest motives matter for couples and high-income singles, and generate transfers to non-spousal heirs whenever a household member dies. The interaction of medical expenses and bequest motives is a crucial determinant of savings for all retirees. Hence, to understand savings, it is important to model household structure, medical expenses, and bequest motives.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a multilevel mediation analysis combined with a latent factor framework to decompose the fraction of the intergenerational elasticity of earnings (IGE) explained by differences in: years of schooling, cognitive skills, investments of parental time and school quality, and family circumstances during childhood.
Abstract: Using data covering a single cohort's first 55 years of life, we show that most of the intergenerational elasticity of earnings (IGE) is explained by differences in: years of schooling, cognitive skills, investments of parental time and school quality, and family circumstances during childhood. To decompose the fraction of the IGE explained by each of these channels, we implement a multi-level mediation analysis combined with a latent factor framework that accounts for measurement error. Multilevel mediation analysis allows us to assess not only the direct effect of each channel on the IGE, but also its indirect effects working through the other channels, thus providing an in-depth understanding of the link between parents' and children's earnings. Of these channels, we show that the main driver of the IGE is increased levels of parental investments received by children of high income parents early in their lives, which encourages greater cognitive development and lifetime earnings.
5 citations