Mandatory Retirement Rules and Retirement Decisions of University
Professors in
by Chris Worswick
Family and Labour Studies Division
Analytical Studies Branch research paper series, No. 271
Context
The aging of the Canadian population has wide-ranging implications
for the economy. The changing age structure has particularly strong
implications for the university sector. The professors, hired initially
to teach the baby boom generation, are now reaching retirement age.
This aging trend is fuelling an ongoing debate in provinces in which
universities are allowed to enforce retirement at 65 about whether such
a policy should be abolished. Consequently, it is crucial to have a
complete understanding of how mandatory retirement rules affect the
age distribution of professors at Canadian universities so as to fully
understand the implications of banning mandatory retirement rules in
the provinces in which it is currently allowed.
Objective
This paper uses the existence of inter-provincial variation in the
ability of universities to force faculty members to retire to identify
the likely effect on retirement behaviour of the elimination of mandatory
retirement.
Findings
The key finding of this study is that mandatory retirement rules act
as a constraint on the decision to keep working beyond the age of 65
for professors at Canadian universities. The age distributions of professors
at universities without mandatory retirement and those at universities
with mandatory retirement at age 65 have diverged over time with a higher
fraction of professors over the age of 65 being at universities without
mandatory retirement. An analysis of a discrete time hazard model indicates
that faculty members at universities with mandatory retirement at age
65 have exit rates at age 65 that are 30 to 35 percentage points higher
than those of their counterparts at universities without mandatory retirement.
Similar results are found for both men and women; however, the magnitude
of this effect is somewhat smaller for women. This does not support
the view that mandatory retirement is a more severe constraint on the
behaviour of female academics.
Data Source: University and College Academic Staff
System.
View
the full publication.
You need to use the free Adobe Reader to view PDF documents. To view (open) these files, simply click on the link. To download (save) them, right-click on the link. Note that if you are using Internet Explorer or AOL, PDF documents sometimes do not open properly. See Troubleshooting PDFs. PDF documents may not be accessible by some devices. For more information, visit the Adobe website or contact us for assistance.
