IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/red/sed011/1136.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Pension design with a large informal labor market: evidence from Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Clement Joubert

    (UNC Chapel Hill)

Abstract

Pension design in developing countries must take into account that both contributory and non-contributory pension schemes can affect incentives to work informally, with important fiscal consequences. The extent of this problem depends on the nature of the informal labor market: residual or competitive? Linked administrative and self-reported data from Chile on employment histories, earnings and savings are used to estimate a dynamic behavioral model in which a couple faces a labor market composed of a covered sector, that is subject to mandatory pension contributions, and an uncovered sector of self-employed and informal jobs. The estimated model is used to determine the extent of labor market segmentation, and whether mandatory pension contributions and minimum pension benefits could reduce the pension system's coverage rate and crowd out private savings. Then, an expanded safety net, recently implemented in Chile as a response to low pension coverage rates, is introduced into the model to quantify its effects on labor supply, savings and the government budget.

Suggested Citation

  • Clement Joubert, 2011. "Pension design with a large informal labor market: evidence from Chile," 2011 Meeting Papers 1136, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:sed011:1136
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://red-files-public.s3.amazonaws.com/meetpapers/2011/paper_1136.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gong, Xiaodong & Van Soest, Arthur & Villagomez, Elizabeth, 2004. "Mobility in the Urban Labor Market: A Panel Data Analysis for Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 1-36, October.
    2. Gale, William G & Scholz, John Karl, 1994. "IRAs and Household Saving," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1233-1260, December.
    3. Gong, Xiaodong & van Soest, Arthur, 2002. "Wage differentials and mobility in the urban labour market: a panel data analysis for Mexico," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 513-529, September.
    4. David M. Blau & Donna B. Gilleskie, 2006. "Health insurance and retirement of married couples," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 935-953, November.
    5. McFadden, Daniel, 1989. "A Method of Simulated Moments for Estimation of Discrete Response Models without Numerical Integration," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(5), pages 995-1026, September.
    6. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas & Jonathan A. Parker, 2002. "Consumption Over the Life Cycle," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(1), pages 47-89, January.
    7. Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Alfonso R. Sánchez Martín, 2007. "An evaluation of the life cycle effects of minimum pensions on retirement behavior," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(5), pages 923-950.
    8. Christopher Taber & Rune Vejlin, 2020. "Estimation of a Roy/Search/Compensating Differential Model of the Labor Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(3), pages 1031-1069, May.
    9. Dickens, William T & Lang, Kevin, 1985. "A Test of Dual Labor Market Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 792-805, September.
    10. Sánchez Martín, Alfonso R., 2010. "Endogenous retirement and public pension system reform in Spain," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 336-349, January.
    11. Gindling, T H, 1991. "Labor Market Segmentation and the Determination of Wages in the Public, Private-Formal, and Informal Sectors in San Jose, Costa Rica," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(3), pages 584-605, April.
    12. Holzmann, Robert & Palacios, Robert & Zviniene, Asta, 2004. "Implicit pension debt: issues, measurement and scope in international perspective," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 30153, The World Bank.
    13. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:3:p:999-1037 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Gustman, Alan L & Steinmeier, Thomas L, 2000. "Retirement in Dual-Career Families: A Structural Model," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 503-545, July.
    15. Michaelides, Alexander & Gomes, Francisco & ,, 2005. "Wealth Accumulation and Portfolio Choice with Taxable and Tax-Deferred Accounts," CEPR Discussion Papers 4852, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. van der Klaauw, Wilbert & Wolpin, Kenneth I., 2008. "Social security and the retirement and savings behavior of low-income households," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 21-42, July.
    17. Eric M. Engen & William G. Gale & John Karl Scholz, 1996. "The Illusory Effects of Saving Incentives on Saving," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 113-138, Fall.
    18. Magnac, Th, 1991. "Segmented or Competitive Labor Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(1), pages 165-187, January.
    19. Maloney, William F, 1999. "Does Informality Imply Segmentation in Urban Labor Markets? Evidence from Sectoral Transitions in Mexico," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 275-302, May.
    20. Robalino, David A. & Zylberstajn, Eduardo & Zylberstajn, Helio & Afonso, Luis Eduardo, 2008. "An ex-ante evaluation of the impact of social insurance policies on labor supply in Brazil : the case for explicit over implicit redistribution," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 90342, The World Bank.
    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. Javier Olivera, 2014. "The effects of a multi-pillar pension reform: The case of Peru," Working Papers 21, Peruvian Economic Association.
    2. Danielyan, Vladimir & Polterovich, Victor, 2021. "Пенсионные Реформы И Теневой Сектор: Моделирование Поведения Доходных Групп [Pension reforms and the informal sector: modeling of income groups behavior]," MPRA Paper 110676, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Rodrigo Ceni, 2014. "Informality and government enforcement in Latin America," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 14-21, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    4. Alessandro Di Nola & Georgi Kocharkov & Aleksandar Vasilev, 2017. "Productivity, Taxation and Evasion: An Analysis of the Determinants of the Informal Economy," Bulgarian Economic Papers bep-2017-04, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski - Bulgaria // Center for Economic Theories and Policies at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, revised Apr 2017.
    5. Rodrigo Ceni, 2014. "Social security schemes and labor supply in the formal and informal sectors," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 14-12, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    6. Kathleen McKiernan, 2021. "Social Security Reform in the Presence of Informality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 40, pages 228-251, April.
    7. Kathleen McKiernan, 2018. "Welfare Impact of Social Security Reform: The Case of Chile in 1981," 2018 Meeting Papers 253, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. Sam Flanders & Melati Nungsari & Marcela Parada‐Contzen, 2020. "Pricing schemes and market efficiency in private retirement systems," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(4), pages 1041-1068, August.
    9. Di Nola Alessandro & Kocharkov Georgi & Vasilev Aleksandar, 2019. "Envelope wages, hidden production and labor productivity," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-30, June.
    10. Joubert,Clement Jean Edouard, 2020. "Gender Pension Gaps in a Private Retirement Accounts System : A Dynamic Model of Household Labor Supply and Savings," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9322, The World Bank.
    11. Sergi Jiménez-Martín, 2014. "The incentive effects of minimum pensions," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-84, August.
    12. Damilola Olajide & Maria Laura Alzua & Ana Dammert & Olusegun Sotola & Thompson Ayodele, 2016. "Randomized Evaluation of the Unconditional Cash Transfer Scheme for the Elderly in Ekiti State Nigeria," Working Papers PIERI 2016-21, PEP-PIERI.
    13. Iain W. Long & Vito Polito, 2017. "Job Search, Unemployment Protection and Informal Work in Advanced Economies," CESifo Working Paper Series 6763, CESifo.
    14. Maria Laura Alzua & Natalia Cantet & Ana Dammert & Damilola Olajide, 2019. "Welfare Effects of a Non-Contributory Old Age Pension: Experimental Evidence for Ekiti State, Nigeria," Working Papers PIERI 2019-15, PEP-PIERI.

    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. Clement Joubert, 2010. "Dynamic labor supply and saving incentives in privatized pension systems: evidence from Chile," 2010 Meeting Papers 291, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. 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.
    3. Olivier Bargain & Prudence Kwenda, 2014. "The Informal Sector Wage Gap: New Evidence Using Quantile Estimations on Panel Data," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 117-153.
    4. Fábio Veras Soares, 2004. "Some Stylized Facts of The Informal Sector in Brazil in the 1980`s end 1990`s," Discussion Papers 1020, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    5. Aysit Tansel & Elif Oznur Acar, 2016. "The Formal/Informal Employment Earnings Gap: Evidence from Turkey," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Inequality after the 20th Century: Papers from the Sixth ECINEQ Meeting, volume 24, pages 121-154, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    6. Olivier Bargain & Prudence Kwenda, 2009. "The Informal Sector Wage Gap: New Evidence Using Quantile Regressions on Panel Data," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 09-06, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University.
    7. Gustavo A. García, 2017. "Labor Informality: Choice or Sign of Segmentation? A Quantile Regression Approach at the Regional Level for Colombia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 985-1017, November.
    8. Ibale, Douglas Amuli & Docquier, Frédéric & Iftikhar, Zainab, 2024. "Spatial Inequality, Poverty and Informality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. Paula Herrera-Id�rraga & Enrique L�pez-Bazo & Elisabet Motell�n, 2015. "Double Penalty in Returns to Education: Informality and Educational Mismatch in the Colombian Labour Market," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(12), pages 1683-1701, December.
    10. Bargain, Olivier & Etienne, Audrey & Melly, Blaise, 2021. "Informal pay gaps in good and bad times: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 693-714.
    11. Peter Huber & Ulugbek Rahimov, 2017. "The Self-Selection of Workers to the Formal and Informal in Transition Economies: Evidence from Tajikistan," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 67(2), pages 140-164, April.
    12. Maren Michaelsen & John Haisken-DeNew, 2015. "Migration magnet: the role of work experience in rural–urban wage differentials," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, December.
    13. Ulyssea, Gabriel, 2010. "The formal-informal labor market segmentation hypothesis revisited," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 30(2), December.
    14. Jochem de Bresser & Raquel Fonseca & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2016. "Retirement Behavior in the U.S. and Europe," Cahiers de recherche 1609, Chaire de recherche Industrielle Alliance sur les enjeux économiques des changements démographiques.
    15. Henley, Andrew & Arabsheibani, G. Reza & Carneiro, Francisco G., 2009. "On Defining and Measuring the Informal Sector: Evidence from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 992-1003, May.
    16. Irina Merkurieva, 2018. "Late Career Job Loss and the Decision to Retire," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201606, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    17. Aysit Tansel & Elif Oznur Acar, 2016. "The Formal/Informal Employment Earnings Gap: Evidence from Turkey," Research on Economic Inequality,in: Inequality after the 20th Century: Papers from the Sixth ECINEQ Meeting, volume 24, pages 121-154 Emerald Publishing Ltd.
    18. Fabián Slonimczyk & Vladimir Gimpelson, 2015. "Informality and mobility," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 23(2), pages 299-341, April.
    19. Ben Yahmed, Sarra, 2016. "Formal but less equal: Gender wage gaps in formal and informal jobs in Brazil," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-085, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    20. Rayees Ahmad Sheikh & Sarthak Gaurav & Trupti Mishra, 2021. "Race among equals? An inquiry into the segmentation of Indian labor market," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2180-2206, November.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • E26 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Informal Economy; Underground Economy
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

    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:red:sed011:1136. 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: Christian Zimmermann (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sedddea.html .

    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.