We propose a broadly applicable empirical approach to classify people as time-consistent versus naive or sophisticated regarding their self-control limitations. Operationalizing our approach using population representative data reveals that self-control problems are pervasive and that most...

This paper demonstrates that structural factors can shape people's self-control. We study the determinants of adult self-control using population-representative data and exploiting two sources of quasi-experimental variation-Germany's division and compulsory schooling reforms. We find that...

This paper demonstrates that structural factors can shape people's self-control. We study the determinants of adult self-control using population-representative data and exploiting two sources of quasi-experimental variation|Germany's division and compulsory schooling reforms. We find that...

We study the effects of retirement on cognitive functioning among women aged 63 to 67 by exploiting a German retirement reform that raised the early retirement age for women born after 1951 by three years, from 60 to 63. Our indicators of cognitive functioning are experimental measures (word...

We study the effect of unemployment on cognitive abilities among individuals aged between 50 and 65 in Europe. To this end, we exploit plant closures and use flexible event-study estimations together with an experimentally elicited measure of fluid intelligence, namely word recall. We find that,...

Durch den Renteneintritt bauen viele Menschen schneller ab. Auch schwere körperliche Erkrankungen reduzieren langfristig die geistige Fitness. - Im höheren Alter gehen die kognitiven Fähigkeiten allmählich zurück. Die geistige Fitness hängt aber auch stark von bestimmten Faktoren ab: So...

In this paper we estimate the effects of college education on cognitive abilities and health exploiting exogenous variation in college availability and student loan regulations. By means of semiparametric local instrumental variables techniques we estimate marginal treatment effects in an...