Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

Figure 2: Decisions and actions with regard to early/late exit made by the individual
The individual worker does however not only react to decisions made at firm level but
makes decisions on his/her own which, in turn, influence the firm´s decisions (via perceived
retirement preferences and willingness to work, as depicted in Fig. 2 and 3). The worker
decides whether to stay on the job in the framework of ´pushing out´ exerted at firm level,
the retirement incentives or available alternative exit pathways enabled by the institutional
setting, and his/her individual motives for staying on the job (e.g. work ethos), or whether to
´jump out´ (e.g. due to a high value of leisure).
2.1. Explanations at Statutory Level
The state (inter al. the legislator, the government and courts) is an active actor in the
field of early exit. E.g., in EU countries, governments supported the development and
utilisation of early retirement schemes during labour market downturns, so the decision was
not made by the companies alone (Hinrichs/Aleksandrowicz 2005: 4). For my analysis, a
broader analytical framework is therefore needed, which encompasses not only firm and
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