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Effects of Colombia's social protection system on workers'choice between formal and informal employment

Author

Listed:
  • Camacho, Adriana
  • Conover, Emily
  • Hoyos, Alejandro

Abstract

This paper examines whether the Colombian government's expansion of social programs in the early 1990s, particularly the publicly provided health insurance, discouraged formal employment. Using household survey data and variation across municipalities in the onset of interviews for the SISBEN, the instrument used to identify beneficiaries for public health insurance, it shows robust and consistent estimates of an increase in informal employment of approximately 4 percentage points. Similar results are obtained using an alternative dataset, consisting of a panel of individuals interviewed for the first and second SISBEN. The findings suggest that marginal individuals optimized when deciding whether to participate in the formal sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Camacho, Adriana & Conover, Emily & Hoyos, Alejandro, 2013. "Effects of Colombia's social protection system on workers'choice between formal and informal employment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6564, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6564
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Labor Markets; Health Systems Development&Reform; Labor Policies; Population Policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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