Workplace peer effects in retirement

This paper estimates workplace peer efects in retirement by leveraging a German pension reform that eliminated a widely used early retirement option for women. Using administrative linked employer-employee data, I compare women's retirement behavior by exploiting variation in the share of their workplace peers who were afected by the reform based on their birth date. I fnd signifcant and robust peer efects: women are more likely to delay their retirement when their peers extend their employment due to the reform. Investigating potential underlying mechanisms, I provide suggestive evidence for information transmission and social norms about working in old-age. In addition, employer characteristics play an important role in shaping these peer efects. Overall, the fndings highlight the importance of accounting for workplace peer efects when evaluating the broader labor supply impacts of pension policies.