CEPAR

You are here

The Impact of Social Activities on Cognitive Ageing: Evidence from Eleven European Countries

Elderly friends enjoying life

Dimitris Christelis and Loretti I. Dobrescu

Using micro data from eleven European countries, we investigate the impact of being socially active on cognition in older age. Cognitive abilities are measured through scores on numeracy, fluency and recall tests.

We address the endogeneity of social activities through panel data and instrumental variable methods. We find that social activities have an important positive effect on cognition, with the results varying by gender.

PDF icon Download (414.31 KB)