Age Discrimination, Job Separations, and Employment Status of Older Workers: Evidence from Self-Reports

Abstract

This paper explores the consequences of age discrimination in the work-place by analyzing self-reports of discrimination in the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men, for the period 1966-80. Workers with positive reports were much more likely to separate from their employer and less likely to remain employed than workers who report no employer-related age discrimination. The findings for job separations, but not employment status, are robust to numerous attempts to correct the estimates for the inherent limitations of self-reported data, particularly heterogeneity in the propensity to report discrimination, the influence of mandatory retirement, and the possibility that other negative labor market outcomes are attributed to discrimination.