Who Works Longer – and Why? Regional and Individual Characteristics in the Timing of Retirement

Who works longer – and why? This paper investigates the characteristics of people that stay longer in the workforce, even beyond the time they are eligible to retire. In our regional analysis, we use an 11-year balanced panel of 290 Swedish regions. In the individual analysis, we use a large individual level panel to apply Cox proportional hazard estimates on ‘risk’ of entering retirement. Our results show a large gender difference: women tend to retire earlier than men. Between employees and entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs retire later. People in larger regions tend to retire later. Higher house prices, and the share of small firms in a region correlate with a lower likelihood of retirement. The local tax rate and the share of blue-collar workers in a region is significantly related to lower retirement age. A high average wage, commuting intensity, and high human capital in a region is associated with later retirement.