Cognitive decline amongst older people is associated with poor health and lower quality of life. Previous studies demonstrate that retirement is a particularly critical period for cognitive decline and highlight the importance of post-retirement behaviours. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, this study examines the effect of information technology usage on cognitive function, focusing specifically on internet usage. To address the endogenous relationship between cognitive function and IT usage, we adopt an instrumental variable approach that exploits variation in pre-retirement computer exposure due to the uneven computerisation of occupations across countries during the 1980s and 1990s. Our results suggest moderating effects of IT usage on the cognitive decline of retirees. These results are concentrated amongst people who worked in middle-skill occupations, occupations that have previously been shown to have experienced large-scale computerisation.

老年人的认知能力下降与健康状况不佳和生活质量下降有关。先前的研究表明，退休是认知能力下降的一个特别关键的时期，并强调了退休后行为的重要性。本研究使用欧洲健康、老龄化和退休调查的纵向数据，检验信息技术使用对认知功能的影响，特别关注互联网使用。为了解决认知功能和 IT 使用之间的内生关系，我们采用了一种工具变量方法，该方法利用了由于 1980 年代和 1990 年代各国职业计算机化不均衡而导致的退休前计算机暴露的变化。我们的结果表明 IT 使用对退休人员认知能力下降的调节作用。