Public Health Insurance, Non-Farm Labor Supply, and Farmers’ Income: Evidence from New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme

Jin Liu, Yufeng Lu, Qing Xu and Qing Yang
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Jin Liu: Research Institute for Agriculture, Farmer and Rural Society in China, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, NO.777, Guoding Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China
Yufeng Lu: Institute of Finance and Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, NO.777, Guoding Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China
Qing Xu: Research Institute for Agriculture, Farmer and Rural Society in China, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, NO.777, Guoding Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China
Qing Yang: Institute of Finance and Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, NO.777, Guoding Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: The major source of income of Chinese farmers is non-farm income, especially wages and salaries. Based on the economics theory of health and healthcare, their non-farm labor supply behavior could be affected by health insurance policies. The work presented in this paper focuses on the impact of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) on farmers’ non-farm labor supply behavior in China. A four-part model regression approach was used to examine the relationship. Our dataset comprised of 8273 people, aged 45 or above, from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2011 and 2013. The empirical results showed that NRCMS significantly reduced non-farm labor force participation and employment. Compared to non-participants of the NRCMS, the non-farmer labor time of these participants reduced, but the supplementary medical insurance and immediate reimbursement of the NRCMS increased the participants’ non-farm labor time. Our results have contributed to the reform of China’s public health insurance and farms’ income growth, and it would be necessary to actively promote immediate reimbursement, gradually simplify reimbursement procedures for medical treatment in non-registered places, and eliminate the non-portability of NRCMS.

Keywords: New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS); non-farm labor supply; farmers’ income; non-portability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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