Pension Reform and Improved Employment Protection: Effects on Older Men's Employment Outcomes

Abstract

This study examines the impacts of demand-side (the improved employment protection law) and supply-side (pension reform) government interventions on older male workers' employment outcomes in Japan. To identify the effects of interventions implemented concurrently, we employ a difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) approach with variation in the bindingness of the revision of employment protection law as our specification strategy. Our results show that the revised employment protection law had a significant positive impact on employment. However, the results of the event study's DDD model show that the treatment effects do not last over time.