Health and labor force participation of elderly Russians

The effect of health on labor force participation is an established fact. This research hypothesizes the endogeneity of health stemming from the reverse effect, reporting bias and unobserved factors. The relationship between health and labor force participation of elderly Russians is modeled with simultaneous equations using data from World Health Organization Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health, Wave 1 (WHO SAGE, 2007–2010). A strong and non-linear effect of health on labor force participation is confirmed. Unlike for a complex health measure, endogeneity, confirmed by the correlation of unobserved shocks in the system of equations, is found for single-question health measures. The results show that the official retirement age has a moderate effect on labor force participation for women and a weaker or no effect for men. Nevertheless, the health of elderly Russians does not impose strong limitations on the increase of the retirement age.