The effects of public health insurance in labor markets with informal jobs: Evidence from Mexico

Alejandro del Valle

Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 77, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies the labor market effects of the most significant public health insurance expansion in the Americas: Mexico's Seguro Popular (SP). To identify its impact, I exploit the staggered rollout of SP across municipalities. I find that SP increases labor supply by reducing the likelihood of informal workers exiting the labor market. This reduction is driven by women, who experience a 15% decrease in the probability of transitioning from informal employment to inactivity. I also find that this reduction is concentrated among female secondary earners residing in households with dependents. These findings suggest that SP may operate through a novel channel, namely that health insurance enables caregivers to continue working by reducing health shocks among dependents.

Keywords: Public health insurance; Female employment; Health shocks; Caregiving (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 I15 I38 J16 J21 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:77:y:2021:i:c:s0167629621000394

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102454

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