The side effect of pension reforms on the training of older workers. Evidence from Italy

Due to pension reforms, minimum retirement age in Italy increased substantially above age 50 between the second part of the 1990s and the early 2000s. We evaluate whether these reforms affected training participation by private sector employees aged 40-54, who entered their fifties during the relevant years. We find evidence of a sizeable effect: our estimates suggest a 9% increase in training incidence following a one-year increase in minimum retirement age. We also show that, while policies that increase the residual working horizon are effective in increasing training participation by senior workers in their forties and early fifties, traditional training policies that aim at reducing training costs by providing subsidies are ineffective.