Publication

This paper studies the evolution of early retirement due to disease and injury in the German labor force between 1988 and 2004. The authors show that new drug launches have substantially helped to reduce the loss of labor at the disease-level over time. They find that in Western Germany alone, each new chemical entity has on average saved around 200 working years in every year of the observation period. Moreover, they find evidence that the 2001 reform of pension laws has led to further reductions in the loss of labor from disease and injury.