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Pension Design With A Large Informal Labor Market: Evidence From Chile

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  • Clement Joubert

Abstract

This article investigates the fiscal and welfare trade‐offs involved in designing a pension system when workers can avoid contributing by working informally. Using a life‐cycle model of labor supply and saving decisions, I structurally estimate preferences and earnings opportunities in the formal and informal sectors using data on Chilean households. I find limited support for formal jobs rationing. Instead, mandatory pension contributions significantly encourage informality. Policy experiments show that Chile could lower minimum pension spending by 23%—while guaranteeing the same income to retirees—if the minimum pension's implicit tax rate was increased to 60%.

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  • Clement Joubert, 2015. "Pension Design With A Large Informal Labor Market: Evidence From Chile," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(2), pages 673-694, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:iecrev:v:56:y:2015:i:2:p:673-694
    DOI: 10.1111/iere.12118
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    3. Marcela PARADA‐CONTZEN, 2023. "Gender, family status and health characteristics: Understanding retirement inequalities in the Chilean pension model," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(2), pages 271-303, June.
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    5. 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.
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