We examine the labour market, welfare receipt and health effects of a reform to the Irish State Pension system which increased the age at which some workers could claim a State Pension. We use longitudinal data on ageing in Ireland and a causal identification strategy based on the random date of...

We examine the labour market, welfare receipt and health effects of a reform to the Irish State Pension system which increased the age at which some workers could claim a State Pension. We use longitudinal data on ageing in Ireland and a causal identification strategy based on the random date of...

The risk of a worker falling into unemployment represents one of the most important threats to the stability of households' finances - both in terms of lower spending (and hence living standards) and in terms of a greater degree of financial distress (such as the accumulation of unmanageable...

We investigate long-run earnings responses to taxes in the presence of dynamic returns to effort. First, we develop a theoretical model of earnings determination with dynamic returns to effort. In this model, earnings responses are delayed and mediated by job switches. Second, using...

We investigate behavioral responses to the generosity of Disability Insurance (DI) within the context of work compatibility. Exploiting an institutional discontinuity leading to exogenous variation in replacement rates, we use rich administrative data on the work and health histories of Italian...

What are the long-run effects of sustained exposure to air pollution? A unique natural experiment allows us to examine this question. In 1982, a sudden cut in Soviet oil forced Socialist East Germany to switch to highly polluting lignite coal. While the shock sharply increased air pollution near...