We examine the role of self-employment in retirement transitions using a panel of administrative tax data. We find that the hazard of self-employment increases at popular retirement ages associated with Social Security eligibility, particularly for those with greater retirement wealth. Late-career transitions to self-employment are associated with a larger drop in income than similar mid-career transitions. Data from the Health and Retirement Study suggest that hours worked also fall upon switching to self-employment. These results suggest that self-employment at older ages may serve as a ‘bridge job,’ allowing workers to gradually reduce hours and earnings along the pathway to retirement.

我们使用一组行政税收数据来考察自雇在退休过渡中的作用。我们发现，在与社会保障资格相关的受欢迎退休年龄，尤其是对于那些拥有更大退休财富的人来说，自雇的风险会增加。与类似的职业中期过渡相比，职业后期过渡到自营职业带来的收入下降更大。来自健康和退休研究的数据表明，工作时间也归功于自雇。这些结果表明，较高年龄的个体经营可以作为“过渡工作”，使工人能够逐步减少工作时间和收入，直至退休。