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Ceaseless Toil? Health and Labor Supply of the Elderly in Rural China

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Dwayne Benjamin
  • Loren Brandt
  • Jia-Zhueng Fan

Abstract

Deborah Davis-Friedmann (1991) described the \"retirement\" pattern of the Chinese elderly in the prereform era as \"ceaseless toil\": lacking sufficient means of support, the elderly had to work their entire lives. In this paper we re-cast the metaphor of ceaseless toil in a labor supply model, where we highlight the role of age and deteriorating health. The empirical focus of our paper is (1) Documenting the labor supply patterns of elderly Chinese; and (2) Estimating the extent to which failing health drives retirement. We exploit the panel dimens ion of the 1991-93-97 waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, confronting a number of econometric issues, especially the possible contamination of age by cohort effects, and the measurement error of health. In the end, it appears that "ceaseless toil" is also an accurate depiction of elderly Chinese work patterns since economic reform, but failing health only plays a small observable role in explaining declining labor supply over the life-cycle.

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File URL: https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/public/workingPapers/UT-ECIPA-BENJAMIN-03-01.pdf
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Paper provided by University of Toronto, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number benjamin-03-01.

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Length: 57 pages
Date of creation: 12 Jun 2003
Handle: RePEc:tor:tecipa:benjamin-03-01
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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
  • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
  • P36 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

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Cited by:

  1. Chen, Zeyuan & Bengtsson, Tommy & Helgertz, Jonas, 2015. "Labor Supply Responses to New Rural Pension Insurances in China: A Regression Discontinuity Approach," Lund Papers in Economic History 139, Department of Economic History, Lund University.
  2. Shu, Lei, 2017. "Essays on retirement income provision," Other publications TiSEM e5dd8c4e-03bf-4ec9-9651-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
  3. Eric V. Edmonds & Kristin Mammen & Douglas L. Miller, 2005. "Rearranging the Family?: Income Support and Elderly Living Arrangements in a Low-Income Country," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(1).
  4. Cheng, Lingguo & Liu, Hong & Zhang, Ye & Zhao, Zhong, 2016. "The Health Implications of Social Pensions: Evidence from China's New Rural Pension Scheme," IZA Discussion Papers 9621, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Huang, Bihong & Lian, Yujun & Li, Wensu, 2016. "How far is Chinese left-behind parents' health left behind?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 15-26.
  6. Chamon, Marcos & Liu, Kai & Prasad, Eswar, 2013. "Income uncertainty and household savings in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 164-177.
  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. Giles, John T. & Wang, Dewen & Cai, Wei, 2011. "The Labor Supply and Retirement Behavior of China's Older Workers and Elderly in Comparative Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 6088, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  9. Barrientos, Armando, 2012. "What is the Role of Social Pensions in Asia?," ADBI Working Papers 351, Asian Development Bank Institute.
  10. de Carvalho Filho, Irineu Evangelista, 2008. "Old-age benefits and retirement decisions of rural elderly in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 129-146, April.
  11. de Brauw, Alan, 2004. "Parents As Public Goods: Theory And Evidence From Rural China," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20298, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
  12. Zhao, Zhong, 2007. "Earnings Instability and Earnings Inequality in Urban China: 1989–2006," IZA Discussion Papers 3270, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  13. Chen, Zeyuan & Bengtsson, Tommy & Helgertz, Jonas, 2015. "Labor Supply Responses to New Rural Social Pension Insurance in China: A Regression Discontinuity Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 9360, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  14. Rafael Novella & Javier Olivera, 2014. "Mental Retirement and Non-Contributory Pensions for the Elderly Poor in Peru," Working Papers 2014-14, Peruvian Economic Association.
  15. Zhong Zhao, 2010. "Earnings Instability and Earnings Inequality in Urban China: 1989–2006," Working Papers id:2783, eSocialSciences.
  16. Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & Tarun Khanna, 2003. "Globalization and Trust: Theory and Evidence from Cooperatives," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp592, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
  17. Yevgeniy Goryakin & Marc Suhrcke, 2017. "The impact of poor adult health on labor supply in the Russian Federation," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(3), pages 361-372, April.

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