We examine the effects of changed eligibility rules to disability pension by the 1979 Swedish pension reform on immigrant retirement behavior. The reform made disability pension in the form of basic pension available to a wider group of immigrants. By using the LINDA database in a “difference-in-difference” model we estimate the effects of the reform on the probability of retirement in the age group 40-64. We find a positive impact of the reform on immigrant retirement behavior among women. Our results also indicate that naturalization may have been a way to get access to disability pension for those who, before the reform, had no legal right to basic pension.

<p>We examine the effects of changed eligibility rules to disability pension by the 1979 Swedish pension reform on immigrant retirement behavior. The reform made disability pension in the form of basic pension available to a wider group of immigrants. By using the LINDA database in a “difference-in-difference” model we estimate the effects of the reform on the probability of retirement in the age group 40-64. We find a positive impact of the reform on immigrant retirement behavior among women. Our results also indicate that naturalization may have been a way to get access to disability pension for those who, before the reform, had no legal right to basic pension.</p>