Impact evaluation of the 1993 French pension reform on retirement age

Abstract

This paper offers the fi rst ex post evaluation of the incentive effects of the 1993 French pension reform. We use administrative data in order to assess how individuals have reacted to changes in incentives to delay retirement. We take advantage of the fact that different groups were affected differently by the reform in order to identify precisely the behavioural impact of changing incentives. We fi nd that one additional quarter of necessary contribution led to an average increase of 1.5 months in retirement age, corresponding to a coeffi cient response of 0.54. Moreover, we show that the reform has also encouraged individuals to claim more disability pensions and to fi nd additional quarters of past contribution.