Did the Intergenerational Solidarity Pact Increase the Employment Rate of Older Workers in Belgium? A Macro-Econometric Evaluation

Arbeitspapier

In December 2005, the Belgian government adopted the law on the Intergenerational Solidarity Pact (ISP) aiming at increasing the employment rate of older workers. The main policies of the ISP consist in a pension bonus, reductions in employers' social security contributions and measures discouraging early retirement while encouraging working time reductions at the end of the career. We aim at evaluating the overall effectiveness of the ISP in rising the employment rate of older workers. To that purpose, we compare the actual evolution of the employment rate after the implementation of the policies to its predicted (counterfactual) evolution based on the estimation of a macroeconometric model in a period prior to the ISP. The results suggest a slight positive impact of the ISP on the employment rate of older workers but to the detriment of the younger workers. However, there is a lack of statistical power to draw firm conclusions on the overall effect of the ISP.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9115

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure ; Retirement; Retirement Policies ; National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs ; Business Fluctuations; Cycles
• Subject: aging ; evaluation of labor market policies ; macro-econometrics

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Dejemeppe, Muriel ; Smith, Catherine ; Van der Linden, Bruno
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/114000
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET