The determinants of hiring older workers: Evidence from Hong Kong

A 1996 survey of Hong Kong establishments designed to identify hiring and e mployment patterns by workers' age shows that, as in the United States, man y firms employed older workers but did not hire older workers. This pattern appears to reflect mainly economic forces, rather than public policy, give n that no laws prohibited age discrimination or required uniform fringe ben efit provision in Hong Kong. The empirical evidence from the survey is cons istent with two broad hypotheses. First, workers and firms are more willing to invest in training when workers are young. Second, delayed compensation more effectively deters shirking among young workers than among older work ers and is more readily accepted by young workers.