Productivity based selection to retirement: Evidence from EU-SILC

The age-productivity and age-employment profiles in each of the 28 European countries are investigated jointly using the harmonized survey of income and living conditions (EU-SILC). Based on the employment rates and the age of leaving the labour market, we propose four clusters of countries: with high employment rates and long employment, low employment rates and short employment and the two intermediate categories. With non-parametric and semi-parametric methods, we find evidence that the process of leaving the labour market is highly selective in countries with short employment pattern. Those leaving the labour market earliest are those with lowest productivity in countries with short employment, contrary in countries with long employment and low employment rates and we find no evidence of selection in countries with high employment rates and long employment.