Government Transfers, Work and Social Norms: Evidence from the Russian Old-Age Pension, 1990-2011

Abstract

Social norms about work evolved substantially in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of full employment. However, amongst the subpopulation of older workers, whose views were formed under labour hoarding, ideas about working life remained similar. The resulting environment facilitates a natural experiment. The causal impact of attaining pension age on labour market outcomes is here identified using the World Values Surveys and Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Surveys spanning 1990-2011, and regression discontinuity estimators with individual fixed effects. Older individuals now re- tire earlier with more income and leisure time, but are not necessarily happier.