TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Ruhose, Jens
AU  - Thomsen, Stephan L.
AU  - Weilage, Insa
        TI  - Are Older Workers Willing to Learn?
        PY  - 2020/Jun/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 13416
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp13416
        AB  - Adult education can mitigate the productivity decline in aging societies if older workers are willing to learn. We examine a generous partial retirement reform in Germany that led to a massive increase in early retirement. Using county-level administrative data on voluntary education activities, we employ a difference-in-differences approach for identification. The estimates show a strong increase in participation in adult education, specifically in cognitively demanding courses, for early retirees who would have continued working in the absence of the reform. This supports the notion of an intrinsic willingness of older individuals to acquire skills and abilities independent of financial incentives.
        KW  - adult education
KW  - older workers
KW  - early retirement
KW  - partial retirement
KW  - generalized difference-in-differences
        ER  -