An ageing workforce could be contributing to the stubbornly low levels of inflation in many advanced economies, despite record-low unemployment rates, research published by the Bank for International Settlements finds.

Although the ageing of the population as a whole has been well documented, the increased participation of older workers has been less noticed, write authors Benoit Mojon and Xavier Ragot in their working paper.

On the one hand, older workers tend to be paid more, but on the