Social Insurance Participation Research Articles

Does Social Insurance Block the Inter-Generational Transmission of Poverty? Evidence from the 2018 China Family Panel Survey

In this research, we explored whether participation in pension insurance and medical insurance for children and fathers blocks the inter-generational transmission of poverty. Using data from the China Family Panel Survey of 2018, this paper took the average level of insurance participation of a sample group as an instrumental variable, applied the IV-probit model, and found that the participation of children in pension insurance and the participation of fathers in medical insurance significantly reduce the probability of the inter-generational transmission of poverty, but that the participation of children in medical insurance and the participation of fathers in pension insurance increase it. These results were robust. Furthermore, there was heterogeneity in household registration, geographical location, and marriage with regard to the impact of social insurance participation on the inter-generational transmission of poverty. These results could help the formulation of anti-poverty policies to address the inter-generational transmission of poverty.

Vietnam labour policies and its impact on rural wages: an experience from hired farm labourers in the Red River Delta

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to understand how Vietnamese policies for labour impacting on wage of rural labourers in agricultural sector. To do that, the paper particularly pays attention on analyzing wage of hired farm labourers in the Red River Delta region, the rice basket of Vietnam.
 Methodology / approach. Analyzing the above-mentioned impact of Vietnamese policies was performed by using data surveyed from 150 hired farm labourers in the Red River Delta of Vietnam. The survey on wages of rural labourers was conducted in Bac Ninh, Thai Binh and Hai Duong which are the three typical agricultural production areas in the Red River Delta in 2019. In this survey, the author interviewed 150 people who work as hired labourers in rice cultivation in Bac Ninh, clam farming in Thai Binh and pig raising in Hai Duong. The sample was randomly drawn among farm households which hire labourers in these provinces. This sample was divided into 2 groups of female and male labourers. The main purposes of this survey were to gather both qualitative and quantitative data on hired labourers including: age, gender, education level, money wage, wage in kind and other remunerations that they received from employers. Information relating to their participation in social insurance and vocational training were also collected like: number of years involving in social insurance; money that they used to purchase social insurance; frequency and time spending in vocational training courses. The personal interviews using a standard questionnaire with open and close questions were implemented separately with male and female hired farm labourers. They were interviewed in different places to ensure that their responses do not affect others. After checking for missing values, the author used the following methods: frequency distribution with mean and standard deviation for a description of respondents; cross tabulation and T-test were also used to test for differences in proportions and significant difference between groups; a linear regression model was applied to examine impact of wage regulation, social insurance and vocational training policies on wage of hired labourers in agricultural production (dependent variable was average money wage per month, it was estimated by sum of money wage and other remunerations that a labourer gets each month; independent variables were age, gender, education level and dummy variables which represented labourers’ participation in mentioned labour policies).
 Results. Among policies relating to agricultural sector, the ones about minimum wage and vocational training statistically impact the most on labour wage. Longer time of vocational training brings an additional 3 USD to a labourer’s monthly wage. Being supported by the policy of minimum wage, labourers can achieve higher wage when negotiating with employers. The author found that wage of a labourer who is aware of this policy is about 5 USD higher than that of others. Meanwhile, social insurance policies do not impact on wage of rural farm labourers. It is stated in the Labour Code that a part of social insurance fee of a contracted labourer is paid by his/her employer. However, hired agricultural labourers usually are excluded, because they mostly work under verbal agreements which are not specified by the Code. This loophole in the Labour Code need to be corrected in the future.
 Originality / scientific novelty. Despite the fact that industrialization process is rapidly developing in recent years, rural labour force still contributes a remarkable proportion in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. The transferring skilled and young labourers from farm to off-farm sectors, from rural to urban areas leads to the existence of un-skilled and old-age labourers for agricultural production. This labour force is working in the poor condition with unstable and low wage jobs. However, they are not much concerned by labour policies and there is still a gap in research on their wage. Therefore, this study takes the advance to shed the light on the impact of labour policies on wage of rural farm labourers as well as to propose recommendations to adjust labour policies regarding this issue. 
 Practical value / implications. The author identifies that attending vocational training and understanding of minimum wage will increase the chance for labourers to obtain higher wage.

Institutional Design and Incentives for Migrant Workers to Participate in Social Insurance in China: Evidence From a Policy Experiment in Chengdu City.

Rural-to-urban migration has increased rapidly in China since the early 1980s, with the number of migrants has reached 376 million by 2020. Despite this sharp trend and the significant contributions that migrants have made to urban development, the migrant workers have had very limited access to the social insurance that the majority of urban workers enjoy. Against the background of the social insurance system adjustment in Chengdu in 2011, this study uses a difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically test the impacts of changes in the social insurance policy contribution rates on the social insurance participation rates of migrant workers, using the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) data for 2009–2016. We find that the social insurance participation rate of migrant workers was significantly reduced after they were incorporated into the urban worker insurance system. There was no significant change in the wages of migrant workers, but the working hours were increased and their consumption level decreased. In other words, simply changing the social insurance model of migrant workers from “comprehensive social insurance” to “urban employee insurance” reduces the incentives for migrant workers to participate in insurance and harms the overall welfare of migrant workers. Our study indicates that the design of the social security policy is an important reason for the lower participation rate of migrants. It is necessary to solve the problem of insufficient incentives through the targeted social security policies; primarily, the formulation of a social security policy contribution rate suitable for the migrants, and the establishment of a comprehensive social security policy and the gradual integration of the social security system.

Voluntary Social Insurance Policy Through the Evaluation of Workers in Tay Ho District, Hanoi City, Vietnam

Vietnam’s voluntary social insurance (VSI) policy has been in force since 2008 and by 2018 included 270,000 participants (accounting for 0.79% of the labor force). Hanoi City is the capital of Vietnam, with 21,156 participants (0.56%). The proportion of people participating in VSI is still very low. Workers who have at least 20 years of participation will receive a monthly pension and their beneficiaries will receive a death benefit in case of their demise. The opinions of workers about VSI policies are presented in the report through interviews with 170 voluntary social insurance participants and 168 non-participants in Tay Ho District, Hanoi City. The research results in new findings using comparison between participants and non-participants. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 people, including social insurance officials in Tay Ho District, ward officials, and workers, to clarify why the number of VSI participants is low. Based on the research and evaluation of workers concerning VSI policies and regulations, we identify the main causes of this situation, as well as the policy- and communication-related shortcomings, and suggest solutions for improving the social insurance participation rate of individuals in Hanoi City in particular, and Vietnam in general.

Competing for seafaring labour: Social security and agency employment in Chinese shipping

AbstractThis paper discusses one strategy that Chinese crewing agencies adopt to compete with each other in the global seafarer labour supplying market. This strategy is related to Chinese seafarers’ social insurance participation. It shows that crewing agencies utilised a dual workforce – ‘company‐owned seafarers’ and ‘externally hired seafarers’. Externally hired seafarers, though in precarious employment, are offered higher salaries in place of social insurance coverage. By contrast, company‐owned seafarers are paid less, though enjoy social insurance arranged by agencies. This strategy serves to segment the seafarer labour market, conceal the level playing field and help agencies recruit seafarers cost‐effectively, though in violation of labour rights. This paper argues that this strategy grows out of the competitive landscape co‐shaped by the national regulatory and institutional settings and the global structure of the shipping industry.

Can information influence the social insurance participation decision of China's rural migrants?

This paper uses a randomized information intervention to shed light on whether poor understanding of social insurance, both the process of enrolling and costs and benefits, drives the relatively low rates of participation in urban health insurance and pension programs among China's rural-urban migrants. Among workers without a contract, the information intervention has a strong positive effect on participation in health insurance and, among younger age groups, in pension programs. Migrants are responsive to price: in cities where the premia are low relative to earnings, information induces health insurance participation, while declines are observed in cities with high relative premia.

Can Information Influence the Social Insurance Participation Decision of China's Rural Migrants?

This paper uses a randomized information intervention to shed light on whether poor understanding of social insurance, both the process of enrolling and costs and benefits, drives the relatively low rates of participation in urban health insurance and pension programs among China's rural-urban migrants. Among workers without a contract, the information intervention has a strong positive effect on participation in health insurance and, among younger age groups, in pension programs. Migrants are responsive to price: in cities where the premia are low relative to earnings, information induces health insurance participation, while declines are observed in cities with high relative premia.

Welfare migration or migrant selection? Social insurance participation and rural migrants’ intentions to seek permanent urban settlement in China

The welfare system can be a crucial factor in the urban settlement of rural migrants, but its effects are difficult to determine because to do so one must distinguish the effect of welfare entitlement from the effect of ‘migrant selectivity bias’, which widely exists in cities in developing countries. Using survey data from 15 Chinese cities, this study examines the ways in which social insurance – the most critical social welfare package in China – affects rural migrants’ urban-settlement intentions. The results show that there is a ‘migrant selectivity bias’ in Chinese cities, that is, rural migrants who are better off socio-economically are more inclined to participate in social insurance and are more inclined to pursue permanent urban settlement. Meanwhile, social insurance participation is significantly and positively related to rural migrants’ urban-settlement intentions, and this positive relation remains even after we discount the effect of ‘migrant selectivity bias’ in the analysis. We argue that, for rural migrants in China, the effect of social insurance participation on urban settlement intentions closely resembles that experienced by those who move to migration-managed regimes. We conclude that the Chinese government should establish a more inclusive social welfare system to enable rural migrants to permanently settle in cities.

Social insurance participation and urban settlement intentions of China's floating population

AbstractSince the expansion of social insurance to migrants and the abolition of unequal regulations and controls related to the rural–urban migrants in recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the determinants of migrants' settlement intentions. Using the 2016 National Floating Population Dynamics Monitoring Survey (NFPDMS), this study examines the associations between migrants' urban social welfare participation and their settlement intentions, including long‐term settlement intention and transfer of one's hukou status. Results from logistic regression show that participation in urban social welfare schemes increases migrants' intention to have a long‐term residence in the city and to convert to urban hukou. Results also suggest that the impact of social insurance coverage on long‐term settlement intention as well as urban hukou intention increases as migrants spend more time in the destination city. Our study highlights the salient role of urban welfare coverage as a strong determinant of migrant workers' settlement intentions in urban China.

Reconsidering the reciprocity objection to unconditional basic income

This article reconsiders the reciprocity objection to unconditional basic income based on the idea that reciprocity is not only a duty but a limiting condition on other duties. If the objection were that unconditionality invites people to neglect contributory obligations arising from a duty of reciprocity, people could ask to opt out of eligibility for the benefit so as to avoid liability to contribution. While market failure provides a reason for mandatory participation in social insurance, it will not justify the generous (if conditional) income support egalitarians favour. To sustain the objection, we need to think of reciprocity a limit on duties of assistance and fair-sharing. In this form, the objection resists the inherited assets response, which holds that we can’t have a duty reciprocate benefits we receive from nature or from previous generations.

The Factors Affecting the Decision to Participate in Voluntary Social Insurance of Vietnamese Employees: The Case of Tra Vinh Province

The purpose of this study is to find out the factors affecting the decision on participation in voluntary social insurance of non-state sector employees. To propose such recommendations to the Vietnam Government and Social Insurance of Vietnam, to develop a voluntary insurance policy, improve social security for non-state workers in Vietnam. The analysis of factors affecting the decision to participate in voluntary social insurance of Vietnamese employees in the case of Tra Vinh province by using the method of primary data collection of 300 employees in Tra Vinh province; using multivariate regression methods. The study has found 9 factors such as: social security awareness, the attitude of the employees, knowledge of voluntary social insurance of the employees, the social influence of voluntary social insurance, income of employees, social media, voluntary social insurance policy, Adult’s health awareness in old age and moral responsibility affecting the decision to participate in voluntary social insurance of the employees in Tra Vinh province. Then, the authors have proposed implicational policies such as enhancing communication work for employees, building flexible social insurance policies, diversifying types of payments, Focusing on awareness education about Vietnam social security,…contributing to ensuring social security for Vietnamese employees when they reach the retirement age.

Language Premium Myth or Fact: Evidence from Migrant Workers of Guangdong, China

Using unique matched employer-employee data from China, we discover that migrant workers in the manufacturing industry who are proficient in the local dialect earn lower wages than those who are not. We also find that workers with better dialect skills are more likely to settle for lower wages in exchange for social insurance. We hypothesize that they are doing so in the hope of obtaining permanent residency and household registration status (Hukou) in the host city where they work. Further tests show that the phenomenon of “exchanging wages for social insurance participation” is more pronounced among workers employed in smaller enterprises. Moreover, migrant workers with better language skills have a stronger desire to stay in the host city. Our conclusions are robust to different specifications, even after addressing the endogeneity issue for language acquisition. The present study provides a new perspective on the impact of language fluency on social integration among migrants, one of the most disadvantaged groups in developing countries.

Language Premium Myth or Fact: Evidence from Migrant Workers of Guangdong, China

Using unique matched employer-employee data from China, we discover that migrant workers in the manufacturing industry who are proficient in the local dialect earn lower wages than those who are not. We also find that workers with better dialect skills are more likely to settle for lower wages in exchange for social insurance. We hypothesize that they are doing so in the hope of obtaining permanent residency and household registration status (hukou) in the host city where they work. Further tests show that the phenomenon of exchanging wages for social insurance participation is more pronounced among workers employed in smaller enterprises. Moreover, migrant workers with better language skills have a stronger desire to stay in the host city. Our conclusions are robust to different specifications, even after addressing the endogeneity issue for language acquisition. The present study provides a new perspective on the impact of language fluency on social integration among migrants, one of the most disadvantaged groups in developing countries.

Social insurance participation among rural migrants in reform era China

This study examines the effects of stability in employment and migration on rural migrants’ access to social insurance. Special attention is given to the interaction between the employment contract and the employment sector and between the employment contract and the migrants’ local–nonlocal rural hukou status. Using data from the 2009 Rural-Urban Migration survey in China, the analysis reveals that having a stable contract and high job stability are positively correlated with social insurance coverage among rural migrants, whereas a stable migration experience and the intention to settle in the host city do not increase the likelihood of having social insurance coverage. Having a stable contract plays an important role in closing and even reversing the coverage gap between local and non-local rural migrants by significantly boosting the latter’s chances of obtaining social insurance. However, the beneficial effects derived from having a stable contract in improving the likelihood of obtaining social insurance have been significant in the state sector but quite limited in the non-state sector. Astonishingly, this has unintendedly increased the coverage disparity between the two employment sectors, except for the housing provident fund. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.

The Effect of Lower Transaction Costs on Social Security Disability Insurance Application Rates and Participation

Transaction costs pose significant barriers to participation in public programs. We analyze how Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application behavior was affected by iClaim, a 2009 innovation that streamlined the online application process. We use a difference-in-differences design to compare application rates before and after 2009 across counties with varying degrees of access to high-speed internet. We estimate that counties with internet connectivity one standard-deviation above the mean experienced a 1.6 percent increase in SSDI applications, and a 2.8 percent increase in appeals after the reform. We estimate that the increase in applications due to iClaim can explain 15 percent of the overall increase in applications between 2008 and 2011. Higher exposure to the online application led to a slightly larger increase in SSDI awards, meaning there was a small but significant increase in the overall award rate. Application rates increased the most in rural areas, while appeals and awards had more significant increases in urban areas. These results suggest that the online application reduced transaction costs to applicants, and the lower costs improved the overall targeting efficiency of the application process.

Analysis of the Influencing Factors of Migrant Worker Social Insurance in Lanzhou

There is no clear answer in academic world about whether to establish a social security system for migrant worker, and if doing so, whether it will influence the enterprises-competitiveness. Migrant worker has been contributing a lot for the urban construction, but it is also a vulnerable group, so the research in social security system for migrant worker is an inevitable problem. How to protect and guarantee the interests of the migrant workers become the social problem needed to be solved immediately nowadays. Based on the investigation about the situation of migrant worker's social insurance in Lanzhou and applying the Logistic regression model to analyze the influence factors of migrant worker's participation in social insurance in Lanzhou. This article proposes some suggestions about establishing a national electronic information files for migrant workers and transforming of the advertisement methods of the government.

Tree-based frequent itemsets mining for analysis of life-satisfaction and loneliness of retired athletes

Life-satisfaction and loneliness are two key indicators of individual mental state, and their detailed analysis could help improve the resettlement policy of retired athletes. This paper proposes a tree-based frequent itemsets mining method to estimate the influence factors of the life-satisfaction and the loneliness of retired athletes. The basic situations of the retired athletes are collected by the questionnaires and transformed into the binary attributes. Then, an extend prefix tree is built for mining the frequent itemsets. The lift measure is employed to generate the association rules based on the obtained frequent itemsets and realize the rules prune. The actual survey data of 750 Chinese retired athletes are adopted for comparing the proposed method and the Apriori algorithm. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method is higher. Moreover, the obtained rules show that the health condition, the education, the social insurance participation affect both the life-satisfaction and the loneliness of retired athletes, and the income only affect the life-satisfaction of retired athletes.

Social insurance for migrant workers in China: impact of the 2008 Labour Contract Law

Using the China Household Income Project (CHIP) 2007, 2008, and 2009 longitudinal migrant survey data, this article provides new evidence on the effects of China’s 2008 Labour Contract Law (LCL) on migrant workers’ social insurance participation, including in pensions, work injury insurance, unemployment insurance, medical insurance, and the housing provident fund. We find consistently strong evidence that migrant workers’ labour contract status was significantly associated with their participation in all five types of social insurance. In particular, having or gaining a long-term contract helped promote migrant workers’ social insurance participation, while losing one such contract decreased their chance of social insurance participation. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) method and focussing on the panel sample, we find that the implementation of the LCL helped boost migrant workers’ chance of social insurance participation consistently and significantly, especially for those who gained a long-term contract. These findings suggest that the LCL at least partly reached its intended policy goal of improving social protection for migrant workers, a disadvantaged group in the Chinese labour market. Future research should use longitudinal data and rigorous methods to track the long-term impact of this important law and help build a strong, unified social insurance system for all Chinese citizens.

Does social insurance in China enhance people’s well-being?

The effect of social insurance in China, including basic pension insurance and basic medical insurance, on people’s well-being is researched in this study. The utility function is firstly established to inspect the utility changes before and after the insurance; then, with the establishment of nonparametric estimation model, CGSS is utilized for studying the effects of people participating in social insurance on the subjective well-being. The research findings show that the participation in basic pension insurance and basic medical insurance could significantly enhance people’s well-being and the subjective well-being enhances more obviously with larger longevity risk or larger medical risk. The more risk aversion of people would enhance the participation in social insurance to promote the subjective well-being. This study further promotes the coverage of social insurance for the government supporting the enhancement of people’s well-being.

The Labor Contract Law, Macro Conditions, Self-Selection, and Labor Market Outcomes for Migrants in China

China introduced a new Labor Contract Law (LCL, 2008) to protect employees’ working conditions and welfare. Early evaluations of labour market outcomes suggest positive effects for workers. In the same period, however, China faced labor market tightening, which facilitated the LCL's introduction and enforcement. Existing evaluations of the LCL treat the introduction of the LCL as being exogenous. We show that labor market tightening and individuals’ self-selection into jobs whichcomply with the Law have affected migrant labor market outcomes. Taking these factors separately into account suggests that, the LCL has had varying effects on labor market outcomes: a negative effect on wages and hours; an unclear effect on having a written contract, and a positive effect on social insurance participation. Data inadequacies prevent us from considering these factors simultaneously.