IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/ecdecc/doi10.1086-681668.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of a Noncontributory Pension Program on Labor Force Participation: The Case of 70 y Más in Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Juarez
  • Tobias Pfutze

Abstract

We estimate the effect of 70 y Más, an age-conditioned cash transfer program for individuals age 70 and older in rural Mexico, on the labor force participation of beneficiaries and of younger individuals who live with them. Using data from the 2010 Mexican census, we exploit the age and locality population thresholds to identify the effects of the program, which at the time operated only in localities with less than 30,000 inhabitants. We find that the program reduces the labor force participation of elderly men, particularly those who live alone and who are relatively poor, but has a much weaker effect on that of elderly women. The program has no statistically significant effect on the labor force participation of either prime-age men or women who live with potential beneficiaries, and it has a negative and significant effect on the labor force participation of boys age 12-17, particularly those in the lowest wealth quintiles, but not on that of same-age girls. These results suggest that the program affects mostly the labor supply of the intended beneficiaries and that of marginal workers, like adolescent boys.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Juarez & Tobias Pfutze, 2015. "The Effects of a Noncontributory Pension Program on Labor Force Participation: The Case of 70 y Más in Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 685-713.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/681668
    DOI: 10.1086/681668
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681668
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681668
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emmanuel Skoufias & Susan Wendy Parker, 2001. "Conditional Cash Transfers and Their Impact on Child Work and Schooling: Evidence from the PROGRESA Program in Mexico," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2001), pages 45-96, August.
    2. Esther Duflo, 2003. "Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old-Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, June.
    3. Victoria Hosegood & Anne Case & Cally Ardington, 2009. "Labor Supply Responses to Large Social Transfers: Longitudinal Evidence from South Africa," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 22-48, January.
    4. Masahisa Fujita & Paul Krugman & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262561476, September.
    5. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan & Douglas Miller, 2003. "Public Policy and Extended Families: Evidence from Pensions in South Africa," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 17(1), pages 27-50, June.
    6. Edmonds, Eric V., 2006. "Child labor and schooling responses to anticipated income in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 386-414, December.
    7. Elliott Fan, 2010. "Who Benefits from Public Old Age Pensions? Evidence from a Targeted Program," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(2), pages 297-322, January.
    8. Deon Filmer & Lant Pritchett, 2001. "Estimating Wealth Effects Without Expenditure Data—Or Tears: An Application To Educational Enrollments In States Of India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 115-132, February.
    9. Jonathan Gruber & David Wise, 2005. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Fiscal Implications, Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 11290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    11. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1997. "Introducing Household Production in Collective Models of Labor Supply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 191-209, February.
    12. Emilio Gutierrez & Laura Juarez & Adrian Rubli, 2011. "Grandfathers and Grandsons: SHould Transfers be Targeted to Women?," Working Papers 1103, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM.
    13. Juarez, Laura, 2009. "Crowding out of private support to the elderly: Evidence from a demogrant in Mexico," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 454-463, April.
    14. Dora L. Costa, 1995. "Pensions and Retirement: Evidence from Union Army Veterans," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 110(2), pages 297-319.
    15. T. Paul Schultz, 1990. "Testing the Neoclassical Model of Family Labor Supply and Fertility," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(4), pages 599-634.
    16. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Laura Juarez, 2012. "Old-Age Government Transfers and the Crowding Out of Private Gifts: The 70 Plus Program for the Rural Elderly in Mexico," Working Papers 1205, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Laura Juarez & Tobias Pfutze, 2020. "Can non-contributory pensions decrease food vulnerability? The case of Mexico," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1865-1882, October.
    3. Yahirun, Jenjira J. & Sheehan, Connor M. & Hayward, Mark D., 2017. "Adult children's education and changes to parents' physical health in Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 93-101.
    4. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Cristina Borra, 2018. "Internal Mobility after the Expansion of the Welfare State: Evidence from Spain," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1806, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
    5. Orraca Romano, Pedro Paulo, 2016. "Essays on development and labour economics for Mexico," Economics PhD Theses 0816, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Miguel Ángel Borrella Mas & Mariano Bosch Mossi & Marcello Sartarelli, 2016. "Non-Contributory Pensions Number-Gender Effects on Poverty and Household Decisions," Working Papers. Serie AD 2016-02, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    7. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Laura Juarez & Jorge Alonso, 2019. "The Effect Of Noncontributory Pensions On Saving In Mexico," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(2), pages 931-952, April.
    8. Tobias Pfutze & Carlos Rodríguez-Castelán, 2019. "Can a Small Social Pension Promote Labor Force Participation? Evidence from the Colombia Mayor Program," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2019), pages 111-154, October.
    9. Mena, Gary & Hernani-Limarino, Werner L., 2015. "Intended and Unintended Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers: The Case of Bolivia's Renta Dignidad," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7350, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Jorge Alonso & Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Laura Juárez, 2016. "The Effect of Non-contributory Pensions on Saving in Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 95976, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Jonathan Puigvert & Miriam Juárez-Torres, 2019. "Labour Force Participation and the Business Cycle in Mexico," Working Papers 2019-04, Banco de México.

    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. Juarez Laura, 2010. "The Effect of an Old-Age Demogrant on the Labor Supply and Time Use of the Elderly and Non-Elderly in Mexico," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, June.
    2. Inés Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & Matilde Pinto Machado, 2020. "The Impact of a Permanent Income Shock on the Situation of Women in the Household: The Case of a Pension Reform in Argentina," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(4), pages 1295-1343.
    3. Barrientos, Armando, 2012. "Social Transfers and Growth: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Find Out?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 11-20.
    4. Independent Evaluation Group, 2014. "Social Safety Nets and Gender : Learning from Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projects," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 21365, June.
    5. Neryvia Pillay Bell, 2020. "Working Paper WP2005 The impacts of unconditional cash transfers on schooling in adolescence and young adulthood Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 10023, South African Reserve Bank.
    6. Cesar Martinelli & Susan W. Parker, 2003. "Do School Subsidies Promote Human Capital Accumulation among the Poor?," Working Papers 0306, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM.
    7. Ning, Manxiu & Gong, Jinquan & Zheng, Xuhui & Zhuang, Jun, 2016. "Does New Rural Pension Scheme decrease elderly labor supply? Evidence from CHARLS," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 315-330.
    8. Javier Olivera & Blanca Zuluaga, 2014. "The Ex‐Ante Effects Of Non‐Contributory Pensions In Colombia And Peru," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(7), pages 949-973, October.
    9. Jessica Standish-White & Arden Finn, 2015. "Unconditional cash transfers and children's educational outcomes: Evidence from the old-age pension programme in South Africa ," SALDRU Working Papers 147, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    10. Danzer, Alexander M., 2010. "Retirement Responses to a Generous Pension Reform: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Eastern Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 4726, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Vimal Ranchhod, 2017. "Household responses to the cessation of grant income: The case of South Africa's Old Age Pension," SALDRU Working Papers 213, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    12. Chen, Xi & Eggleston, Karen & Sun, Ang, 2018. "The impact of social pensions on intergenerational relationships: Comparative evidence from China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 225-235.
    13. Emilio Gutierrez & Laura Juarez & Adrian Rubli, 2017. "The Effect of a Transfer Program for the Elderly in Mexico City on Co-Residing Children's School Enrollment," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 31(3), pages 809-828.
    14. Hamoudi, Amar & Thomas, Duncan, 2014. "Endogenous coresidence and program incidence: South Africa's Old Age Pension," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 30-37.
    15. Nikolov, Plamen & Adelman, Alan, 2019. "Do private household transfers to the elderly respond to public pension benefits? Evidence from rural China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    16. LaFave, Daniel & Thomas, Duncan, 2017. "Extended families and child well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 52-65.
    17. Marisa Coetzee, 2013. "Finding the Benefits: Estimating the Impact of The South African Child Support Grant," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(3), pages 427-450, September.
    18. Irineu Evangelista de Carvalho Filho, 2012. "Household Income as a Determinant of Child Labor and School Enrollment in Brazil: Evidence from a Social Security Reform," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(2), pages 399-435.
    19. Berg, Erlend, 2013. "Are poor people credit-constrained or myopic? Evidence from a South African panel," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 195-205.
    20. Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2006. "Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 325-347, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    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:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/681668. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Journals Division). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/EDCC .

    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 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.

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.