The Impact of the New Rural Pension Scheme on Retirement Sustainability in China: Evidence of Regional Differences in Formal and Informal Labor Supply

Benxi Lin, Zongjian Lin, Yu Yvette Zhang and Weiping Liu
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Benxi Lin: School of Economics, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China
Zongjian Lin: Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Yu Yvette Zhang: School of Management, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China
Weiping Liu: School of Economics, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-7

Abstract: This paper evaluates the effect of China’s New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on the retirement sustainability in forms of formal labor supply and informal labor supply in terms of care of grandchildren, using data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We explore the regional differences of the NRPS effect on labor supply between the West and the other regions of China. Our analysis shows that rural Western China has a more severe problem of “ceaseless toil” compared to the rest of the country. We find that NRPS improves the “ceaseless toil” situation of the Chinese rural elderly especially in Western China. Our results suggest the need to increase the amount of NRPS payment, and to develop a region-specific pension programs in China.

Keywords: China Rural Pension Scheme; retirement sustainability; labor supply; grandchildren care; Western China; ceaseless toil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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