Presenting an account of the decline in labour force participation, this text suggests that social security programmes actually provide incentives for early retirement. The text houses a set of papers that present information on social security systems and labour force participation patterns.

Introduction and Summary Jonathan Gruber and David A. Wise 1. Social Security and Retirement in Belgium Pierre Pestieau and Jean-Philippe Stijns 2. Social Security and Retirement in Canada Jonathan Gruber 3. Social Security and Retirement in France Didier Blanchet and Louis-Paul Pelé 4. Social Security and Retirement in Germany Axel Börsch-Supan and Reinhold Schnabel 5. Social Security and Retirement in Italy Agar Brugiavini 6. Social Security and Retirement in Japan Naohiro Yashiro and Takashi Oshio 7. Social Security and Retirement in the Netherlands Arie Kapteyn and Klaas de Vos 8. Social Security and Retirement in Spain Michele Boldrin, Sergi Jimenez-Martin, and Franco Peracchi 9. Social Security, Occupational Pensions, and Retirement in Sweden Marten Palme and Ingemar Svensson 10. Pensions and Retirement in the United Kingdom Richard Blundell and Paul Johnson 11. Social Security and Retirement in the United States Peter Diamond and Jonathan Gruber