Investigators at University of Arkansas Detail Findings in Global Economics (Remittances, Health Insurance, and Pension Contributions: Evidence From Colombia)

2020 MAR 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Economics - Global Economics. According to news originating from Fayetteville, Arkansas, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Pension contributions and health insurance guarantee that people withdraw from the labor market without falling into poverty and protect individuals and their families against adverse health shocks. However, many workers with informal jobs in developing countries lack access to these two components of the social security system.”

Financial support for this research came from Fulbright Scholarship program.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Arkansas, “This study addresses whether international remittance income increases participation in the pension and health schemes for individuals working in informal jobs. To identify the causal impact of remittances, I use a nationally-representative household data from Colombia and an instrumental variable (IV) approach that relies on unemployment shocks in the main destination countries of Colombian migrants arising from the 2008 financial crisis. My study finds that those informal workers who live in a recipient household are more likely to enroll in the contributive plans than those in non-recipient households. Moreover, relative to their mean participation shares, I find that for workers at their prime working-age, the impact is more pronounced for women, and for informal workers at schooling age, the impact is slightly larger for boys. Finally, I also find that remittances decrease the likelihood of having an informal job and increase the probability of having a job where the employer share the contribution to the social security system.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “As part of a special issue on Sustainable Development Goals, this article provides evidence that remittances are an important source of income that increases contribution to pension and health, two essential components of the social security system to improve well-being and fight against poverty.”

For more information on this research see: Remittances, Health Insurance, and Pension Contributions: Evidence From Colombia. World Development, 2020;127():. World Development can be contacted at: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; World Development - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from A. Cuadros-Menaca, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104766. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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