Occupation-related Health Gradient and Labour Force Participation of Elderly Russians

Recently, a gradual economic growth and an increasing social welfare in the majority of the developing and developed countries has resulted in aging of the population. The increasing average lifespan of the population significantly influences on the structure of governmental healthcare expenditures and motivates the reforms of the retirement policy. From the prospective of social welfare maximization, the intuition behind such measures is to provide the exemption from work to the seniors, for whom the positive consequences of the retirement will outweigh the negative ones. Despite the fact, that generally the dynamics of health deterioration is similar across the population of the country, some occupational specific may exist. The numerous studies identify the presence of the health gradient, caused by the influence of working condition on quality of life related to health. The study aims to develop the methodology for health evaluation among the seniors and the recommendations regarding the policy mechanisms the which the most effectively contributes to the quality of life The research provides the first evidence on presence of occupation-related health specifics among elderly people occupied in science or related sphere in Russia. This results will enable a modelling of the dynamics of the quality-of-life deterioration related to health of elderly people and estimation of the effects of the retirement decision on an individual’s health state and healthcare expenditures. The results obtained will contribute to the implementation of the retirement policy.