Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2018
Abstract
Non-contributory pensions are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. As their effects are likely to be context-dependent, evaluating their effects in a wide range of settings is important for establishing the external validity of the non-contributory pension literature. We use a new monthly panel dataset and a difference-in-differences strategy to study the effect of a new non-contributory pension in Singapore (the Silver Support Scheme or SSS) on labour supply, work expectations, private cash transfers, and expenditure, 1 year after its implementation. We find no evidence that receiving SSS payouts led to a fall in labour supply, work expectations, or the receipt of private cash transfers in the first year after SSS implementation—our estimated effects for these outcomes are statistically insignificant and are either negative but close to zero or positive. Our point estimates of the effects of receiving SSS payouts on expenditure are positive but too imprecise to allow us to make any definitive conclusions. Lastly, we do not find evidence of anticipatory effects among younger individuals who are not ageeligible for payouts yet. These results, when coupled with our finding in a companion paper that the SSS improved recipients’ subjective well-being, suggest that the SSS was successful in improving recipients’ welfare without substantial crowding out of private transfers or changes in labour market behaviour of current and future SSS beneficiaries.
Keywords
Non-contributory pensions, Labour supply, Private income transfers, Crowding out
Discipline
Asian Studies | Income Distribution | Labor Economics
Publication
IZA Journal of Labor and Development
Volume
7
Issue
6
First Page
1
Last Page
54
ISSN
2193-9020
Identifier
10.1186/s40173-018-0099-3
Publisher
SpringerOpen
Citation
CHEN, Yanying and TAN, Yi Jin.
The effect of non-contributory pensions on labour supply and private income transfers: Evidence from Singapore. (2018). IZA Journal of Labor and Development. 7, (6), 1-54.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2178
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40173-018-0099-3