IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v141y2021ics0305750x20304927.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of an extension of workers’ health insurance on formal employment: Evidence from Ecuador

Author

Listed:
  • Molina-Vera, Andrea

Abstract

This research focuses on the 2009 and 2010 Ecuadorian reforms that included formal workers’ children under 18 years old in the health insurance coverage. The study analyzes the impact on formal Ecuadorian employment caused by the extension of health insurance coverage to the workers’ children, using a difference-in-differences approach and repeated cross-sections of household surveys. Evidence reveals that, after the policy reform, individuals who had children were more likely to become formal workers than childless individuals. The impact is about 2 percentage points (about 8% above the pre-reform level). The result was mainly driven from unregistered to registered employment, and by parents with younger children.

Suggested Citation

  • Molina-Vera, Andrea, 2021. "The impact of an extension of workers’ health insurance on formal employment: Evidence from Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:141:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x20304927
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105364
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X20304927
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105364?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcelo Bergolo & Guillermo Cruces, 2014. "Work and tax evasion incentive effects of social insurance programs. Evidence from an employment-based benefit extension," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0161, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    2. Mariano Bosch & Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez, 2014. "The Trade-Offs of Welfare Policies in Labor Markets with Informal Jobs: The Case of the "Seguro Popular" Program in Mexico," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 71-99, November.
    3. Alberto Abadie & Susan Athey & Guido W Imbens & Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "When Should You Adjust Standard Errors for Clustering?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 1-35.
    4. Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2009. "Labor Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 335-358, January.
    5. Gruber, Jonathan, 1997. "The Incidence of Payroll Taxation: Evidence from Chile," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 72-101, July.
    6. Gustavo Henrique de Andrade & Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2016. "A Helping Hand or the Long Arm of the Law? Experimental Evidence on What Governments Can Do to Formalize Firms," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(1), pages 24-54.
    7. Cruces, Guillermo & Galiani, Sebastian & Kidyba, Susana, 2010. "Payroll taxes, wages and employment: Identification through policy changes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 743-749, August.
    8. Fajnzylber, Pablo & Maloney, William F. & Montes-Rojas, Gabriel V., 2011. "Does formality improve micro-firm performance? Evidence from the Brazilian SIMPLES program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 262-276, March.
    9. Angrist, Joshua D. & Krueger, Alan B., 1999. "Empirical strategies in labor economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 23, pages 1277-1366, Elsevier.
    10. Mariano Bosch & Ángel Melguizo & Carmen Pagés, 2013. "Better Pensions, Better Jobs: Towards Universal Coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 82359, February.
    11. Garganta, Santiago & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2015. "The impact of a social program on labor informality: The case of AUH in Argentina," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 99-110.
    12. Santiago Levy & Norbert Schady, 2013. "Latin America's Social Policy Challenge: Education, Social Insurance, Redistribution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 193-218, Spring.
    13. repec:idb:brikps:462 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Bergolo, Marcelo & Cruces, Guillermo, 2014. "Work and tax evasion incentive effects of social insurance programs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 211-228.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. François Gerard & Gustavo Gonzaga, 2016. "Informal Labor and the Efficiency Cost of Social Programs: Evidence from the Brazilian Unemployment Insurance Program," NBER Working Papers 22608, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bergolo, M. & Cruces, G., 2021. "The anatomy of behavioral responses to social assistance when informal employment is high," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Jessen, Jonas & Kluve, Jochen, 2021. "The effectiveness of interventions to reduce informality in low- and middle-income countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Shiferaw, Admasu & Bedi, Arjun S. & Söderbom, Mans & Alemu, Getnet, 2017. "Social Insurance Reform and Labor Market Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 10903, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Santiago Levy & Norbert Schady, 2013. "Latin America's Social Policy Challenge: Education, Social Insurance, Redistribution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 193-218, Spring.
    6. Oscar Becerra, 2023. "Effects of future pension benefits on pre‐retirement labor supply: Evidence from Chile," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 198-219, February.
    7. Jonathan Deslauriers & Benoit Dostie & Robert Gagné & Jonathan Paré, 2021. "Estimating the impacts of payroll taxes: Evidence from Canadian employer–employee tax data," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(4), pages 1609-1637, November.
    8. Liepmann, Hannah & Pignatti, Clemente, 2024. "Welfare effects of unemployment benefits when informality is high," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    9. Vitalijs Jascisens & Anna Zasova, 2021. "Million Dollar Baby: Should Parental Benefits Depend on Wages When the Payroll Tax Evasion is Present?," SSE Riga/BICEPS Research Papers 9, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS);Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga).
    10. Torm, Nina & Oehme, Marty, 2024. "Social protection and formalization in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review of the literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    11. Andy McKay & Jukka Pirttilä & Caroline Schimanski, 2019. "The tax elasticity of formal work in African countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Kim, Jinyoung & Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2022. "Labor market institutions and the incidence of payroll taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    13. Emmanuel Saez & Benjamin Schoefer & David Seim, 2019. "Payroll Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Rent Sharing: Evidence from a Young Workers' Tax Cut in Sweden," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1717-1763, May.
    14. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Carlos Medina, 2017. "Assessing the Effect of Payroll Taxes on Formal Employment: The Case of the 2012 Tax Reform in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 75-124, November.
    15. Robert D Osei & Jukka Pirttilä & Pia Rattenhuber, 2019. "Quantifying the Impacts of Expanding Social Protection on Efficiency and Equity: Evidence from a Behavioral Microsimulation Model for Ghana," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 12(1), pages 105-123.
    16. Ku, Hyejin & Schönberg, Uta & Schreiner, Ragnhild C., 2020. "Do place-based tax incentives create jobs?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Branko Milanovic & Sean Higgins & Nora Lustig & Whitney Ruble & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2016. "Comparing the Incidence of Taxes and Social Spending in Brazil and the United States," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62, pages 22-46, August.
    18. Eduardo Lora & Johanna Fajardo-González, 2016. "Employment and taxes in Latin America: An empirical study of the effects of payroll, corporate income and value-added taxes on labor outcomes," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 35(Especial ), pages 75-117, January.
    19. McKay Andy & Pirttilä Jukka & Schimanski Caroline, 2018. "The Elasticity of Formal Work in African Countries," Working Papers 1820, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    20. Lustig, Nora & Martinez Pabon, Valentina & Pessino, Carola, 2023. "Fiscal Policy, Income Redistribution, and Poverty Reduction in Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13193, Inter-American Development Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor supply; work incentives; social insurance; health insurance; informal employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:141:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x20304927. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.