Scientific Presentations

LabTalks@­SocialDemography

Department Social Demography
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock, Germany, June 17, 2025

1:00 PM: Talk with Alina Sorgner - Are Senior Entrepreneurs Happier? The Role of Income and Health

Abstract

Senior self-employed enjoy higher levels of life satisfaction than senior paid employees and retirees, yet the reasons behind this pattern remain unclear. In this study, we theorize that the higher life satisfaction of senior self-employed largely stems from their higher income and better health. This proposition is confirmed in the empirical analysis, which is based on the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). We show that, after controlling for income and health, retirees exhibit even greater life satisfaction than their self-employed counterparts. Various robustness checks of alternative definitions of senior entrepreneurs and different employment types, and accounting for differences in leisure activities further support this general pattern. We conclude by discussing implications for research, policy, and practitioners.

Room 400 and Zoom

Please register via email (office-myrskyla@demogr.mpg.de) for online participation. The Zoom link will be sent to you afterwards.

LabTalk, June, 17th from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (Rostock time)
 

1:45 PM: Talk with Mariia Vasiakina - The Glass is Half Empty: The Role of Automatable Jobs in Shaping Drinking Behaviors in Russia

Abstract

Over the past decade, technological advancement has had a significant impact on national production systems and labor markets. In particular, ongoing automation puts workers at risk of displacement by new technologies, forces them to adapt to changing work environments, and, as a result, affects their physical and mental health. However, the relationship between automation risk and adverse health behaviors such as alcohol consumption has been largely overlooked in the recent literature, despite being a potential mechanism linking the risk of automation and workers’ health and well-being outcomes. In this study, we investigate the association between exposure to high automation risk at work and alcohol use and consumption among workers in Russia. We merge individual-level data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (2017-2021) with measures of the task content of occupations from the International Standard Classification of Occupations 2008 (ISCO-08). Using panel regression, we provide evidence that exposure to high automation risk at work (proxied by the share of routine tasks in an occupation) is positively related to the status of actual alcohol consumer in both gender groups, and to general alcohol use and alcohol consumption among female workers. We also show that, in the Russian context, high physical and psychosocial job exposures tend to moderate the relationship between automation risk and drinking behaviors, however, the effects are outcome- and gender-specific. Finally, we provide evidence that dissatisfaction with growth opportunities at work serves as a potential pathway between employment in highly automated occupations and drinking behaviors of female workers in Russia.