Can a Small Social Pension Promote Labor Force Participation? : Evidence from the Colombia Mayor Program
One of the primary motivations behind the establishment of noncontributory pension programs is to allow beneficiaries to retire from the labor force. Yet, as with other unconditional cash transfer schemes, their aggregate effects may be more comple...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/12/25672297/can-small-social-pension-promote-labor-force-participation-evidence-colombia-mayor-program http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23480 |
| Summary: | One of the primary motivations behind
the establishment of noncontributory pension programs is to
allow beneficiaries to retire from the labor force. Yet, as
with other unconditional cash transfer schemes, their
aggregate effects may be more complex. Using panel data and
instrumental variable techniques, this paper shows that the
effect of one such program, Colombia Mayor, has been to
raise the labor force participation of relatively younger
male beneficiaries. This increase occurred precisely in the
occupations with characteristics that are likely to require
some up-front investment. The paper concludes that the
transfer effectively loosened the liquidity constraints to
remaining in these occupations. However, no such effect is
found among women or older beneficiaries. |
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