Self-selection Behavior Research Articles

Self-selection out of formal credit markets: evidence from rural Vietnam

PurposeThis paper examines why farmers self-select out of formal credit markets even though they need external funds.Design/methodology/approachWe use probit and Bayesian probit estimators to detect the determinants of self-selection behavior based on a primary dataset of 2,212 rice farmers in Vietnam. After that, we use the multinomial probit (MNP) and Bayesian MNP estimators to reveal the impact of relevant factors on the decision to self-select for farmers belonging to each self-selection category.FindingsThe probit and Bayesian probit estimators show that the decision to self-select depends on household head age, income per capita, farm size, whether or not to have relatives or friends working for banks, the number of previous borrowings, risks related to natural disasters, diseases, and rice price, and the number of banks with which the farmer has relationships. The MNP and Bayesian MNP estimators give further insights into the decision of farmers to self-select in that determinants of the self-selection behavior depend on the reasons to self-select. In concrete, farm size and the number of previous borrowings mitigate the self-selection of farmers who did not apply for loans due to having access to other preferred sources of credit. The self-selection of farmers not applying for loans because of unfavorable loan terms is conditional on household head age, farming experience, income, farm size, the number of previous borrowings, natural disaster risk, and the number of banks the farmer has relationships with. Several factors, including education, income, the distance to the nearest bank, whether or not having relatives or friends working for banks, the number of previous borrowings, risks, and the number of banks the farmer has relationships with, affect the self-selection of farmers not applying for loans because of high borrowing costs. The self-selection of farmers not applying for loans because of complex application procedures depends on income and the number of previous borrowings. Finally, the household head’s age, gender, experience, income, farm size, the amount of trade credit granted, the number of previous borrowings, natural disaster risk, and the number of banks the farmer has relationships with are the determinants of the self-selection of farmers not applying for loans because of a fear not being able to repay.Practical implicationsThis paper fills the knowledge gap by investigating why farmers self-select out of formal credit markets. It provides evidence of how the farmers’ subjective perceptions of rural credit markets contribute to their self-selection.Originality/valueThis paper shows that demand-side constraints are also vital for farmers’ access to bank credit. Improving credit access via easing supply-side constraints may not increase credit uptake without addressing demand-side factors. Given that finding, it recommends policies to improve access to bank credit for farmers regarding the demand side.

Voluntary physical activity modulates self-selection of a high-caloric choice diet in male Wistar rats

Physical exercise training has been positioned as a behavioral strategy to prevent or alleviate obesity via promotion of energy expenditure as well as modulation of energy intake resulting from changes in dietary preference. Brain adaptations underlying the latter process are incompletely understood. Voluntary wheel running (VWR) is a self-reinforcing rodent paradigm that mimics aspects of human physical exercise training. Behavioral and mechanistic insight from such fundamental studies can help optimize therapies that improve body weight and metabolic health based on physical exercise training in humans.To assess the effects of VWR on dietary self-selection, male Wistar rats were given access to a two-component “no-choice” control diet (CD; consisting of prefabricated nutritionally complete pellets and a bottle with tap water) or a four-component free-choice high-fat high-sucrose diet (fc-HFHSD; consisting of a container with prefabricated nutritionally complete pellets, a dish with beef tallow, a bottle with tap water, and a bottle with 30% sucrose solution). Metabolic parameters and baseline dietary self-selection behavior during sedentary (SED) housing were measured for 21 days, after which half of the animals were allowed to run on a vertical running wheel (VWR) for another 30 days. This resulted in four experimental groups (SEDCD, SEDfc-HFHSD, VWRCD, and VWRfc-HFHSD). Gene expression of opioid and dopamine neurotransmission components, which are associated with dietary self-selection, was assessed in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and nucleus accumbens (NAc), two brain regions involved in reward-related behavior, following 51 and 30 days of diet consumption and VWR, respectively.Compared to CD controls, consumption of fc-HFHSD before and during VWR did not alter total running distances. VWR and fc-HFHSD had opposite effects on body weight gain and terminal fat mass. VWR transiently lowered caloric intake and increased and decreased terminal adrenal and thymus mass, respectively, independent of diet. VWR during fc-HFHSD consumption consistently increased CD self-selection, had an acute negative effect on fat self-selection, and a delayed negative effect on sucrose solution self-selection compared to SED controls. Gene expression of opioid and dopamine neurotransmission components in LH and NAc were unaltered by fc-HFHSD or VWR. We conclude that VWR modulates fc-HFHSD component self-selection in a time-dependent manner in male Wistar rats.

Effect of general health checks on the treatment of chronic diseases: accounting for self-selection in the retrospective cohort study using Korea National Health Insurance data

ObjectiveThis study examines the effect of general health checks on the detection and treatment of diabetes and hypertension with controlling for the self-selection problem of undergoing general health checks.DesignRetrospective observational...

Investigating the impact of environmental and temporal features on mobile phone distracted driving behavior using phone use data

Mobile phone distracted driving (MPDD) is one of the most significant and common factors in distraction-affected crashes. In previous studies, MPDD has been described as a self-selected behavior that affects driving performance, rather than a multidimensionally impacted behavior. In this study, the researchers hypothesized that external environmental features significantly impacted MPDD and tested this hypothesis by structural equation modeling (SEM). Three external latent variables (road, operation, and control factors) were measured at different times during weekdays in urban areas of Texas by integrating a large number of mobile phone sensor data and roadway inventory data. A structural model was developed to test the relationship between the latent variables and the rate of drivers involved in MPDD (MPDDR) on the roadway during different time periods. Finally, the data summary and model results revealed significant temporal effects. Standardized estimates from the SEM results revealed the positive impact of roads factors in the morning peak that broader shoulders, wider medians, and smaller curve radians were correlated with higher MPDDR in the morning peak hours; the negative impact of operation factors that higher average annual daily truck traffic (truck AADT) were associated with lower MPDDR significantly. And the impact of control factors on MPDDR is positive. In other words, the road segments with a large number of traffic signals in urban areas had a higher MPDDR than those without traffic signals. These findings could assist transportation and legislation agencies in the development of appropriate countermeasures or enforcement tactics and implement them effectively to reduce the occurrence of MPDD. In addition, this study provides a novel perspective close to the actual consideration of drivers about using mobile phones while driving, in the context of MPDD research, rather than comparing driver groups and vehicle performance.

Quality, Greenness, and Product Line Choices for a Manufacturer With Environmental Responsibility Behaviors

Motivated by the rising environmental protection awareness and the importance of green product design, in this article we develop two models to investigate the quality and greenness decisions and product line choices of a green manufacturer as well as the corresponding impact of product line length on environmental performance. In our models, both the manufacturer and consumers show environmental responsibility behaviors. We find that the manufacturer extends the product line when the unit fit cost, the green cost, the quality cost, the market scale of low-segment consumers, and the environmental responsibility level (or unit environmental cost) are low. In the presence of two products with different market positioning, our analysis reveals that: first, owing to the consumer's self-selection behavior, product quality and greenness may be distorted from the efficient quality and greenness; second, product line extension may improve both the environmental performance and the manufacturer's utility, i.e., achieving a win–win outcome; and third, a higher unit environmental cost (environmental responsibility level or a longer product line) will improve the environmental performance if the unit environmental cost is high. In the continuous green valuation setting, interestingly, we find different results that the manufacturer with a high environmental responsibility level may extend its product line, and the environmental performance increases with the unit environmental cost in the single-product case.

Influence of TOD Modes on Passenger Travel Behavior in Urban Rail Transit Systems

Transit-oriented development (TOD) mode refers to the integrated development of high-density and multi-functional land in the vicinity of core public transportation stations to increase public transportation rates and address problems such as traffic congestion and land shortages. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the relationship between TOD areas and the travel behavior of rail transit residents. However, the income level and occupation of residents have a significant impact on their travel behavior, as people tend to choose their residential, work, and entertainment areas based on their economic characteristics. This paper focuses primarily on two aspects: how to distinguish TOD areas from non-TOD areas (specifically, rail stations) and the variations in the travel behavior of the people residing in these areas. Rail stations were first classified via cluster analysis according to the selected TOD indexes; then, a propensity score matching method was applied to control the influence of self-selection behavior. Based on this, the matched results were analyzed to study the difference in the travel behavior characteristics of residents in TOD and non-TOD areas. The results indicate that residents in TOD areas are more likely to travel by public transportation than those from non-TOD areas. The findings of this study promote a people-oriented urban planning concept and would have practical implications for applications of TOD modes on urban public transportation systems.

Employment Application Criminal Record Questions and Willingness to Apply: A Mixed Method Study of Self-Selection

Audits demonstrate fewer employer callbacks for applicants with criminal records, yet applicants may not apply for each position as assumed. When encountering criminal record questions (CRQs) or background check statements (BCSs), applicants may self-select out rather than divulge their record. We assess whether CRQs or BCSs affect self-selection using a mixed-method study of 303 adults with criminal records. Experimentally, the odds of selecting out of applying were over eight times higher for applications with CRQs or BCSs. In interviews, participants described self-selecting out due to anticipatory stigma, often resulting in long-term burnout. Still, some respondents would apply regardless of CRQs or BCSs due to perceived self-determination, inevitability of record inquiries, and targeted search strategies. Qualitative self-selection motivations differed by race and gender in conjunction with status vulnerabilities. Self-selection behavior reveals a new mechanism where ban-the-box policies could reduce status-based disadvantage and suggests removing BCSs and delaying the consent process.

The Impact of Rural Population Mobility on Fertility Intention under the Comprehensive Two-Child Policy: Evidence from Rural China.

Declining fertility rates pose challenges to global economic, social, cultural and political development. Low fertility rates among rural floating populations are exacerbating these challenges. However, it is not clear whether and to what extent rural population mobility (RPM) has reduced migrants’ willingness to have children. At the same time, rural migration may represent a self-selection behavior (i.e., selection bias), and traditional measurement methods may be insufficient for effectively estimating the quantitative impacts of rural migration. Accordingly, the data from 1734 rural households from 28 provinces in mainland China were collected in the current study, and endogenous switching regression (ESR) models were used to correct the selection bias to quantitatively evaluate the impacts of RPM on fertility intention. The results revealed the following: (1) For rural residents who choose to move, if they chose not to move, their willingness to give birth would increase by 19.820%, their willingness to have female children would increase by 48.526%, and their willingness to have male children would drop by 26.711%. (2) For rural residents who choose not to move, if they chose to move, their willingness to give birth would drop by 55.982%, their willingness to have female children would drop by 18.294%, and their willingness to have male children would drop by 55.106%. (3) For eastern rural residents who choose to move, if they chose not to move, their willingness to give birth would decrease by 40.273%. For midwestern rural residents who choose to move, if they chose not to move, their willingness to give birth would increase by 24.786%. (4) For eastern rural residents who choose not to move, if they chose to move, their willingness to give birth would increase by 11.032%. (5) For midwestern rural residents who choose not to move, if they chose to move, their willingness to give birth would drop by 71.744%. The abovementioned findings can provide research support for other low-fertility countries or regions toward increasing fertility rates and addressing any imbalances in current gender ratios. They can also help to provide realistic strategies for alleviating the global population crisis.

49-LB: Use of Financial Incentives to Promote Adolescent Type 1 Diabetes Self-Management—A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Providing individuals with immediate, consistent inducements for health behaviors that do not provide proximal tangible benefits may promote adherence to diabetes self-management behaviors. Objective: To evaluate whether financial incentives lead to improvement in glycemic control and self-management behaviors in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled crossover study with 12-18 year olds with type 1 diabetes. Adolescents self-selected target self-management behaviors (e.g., increase continuous glucose monitor [CGM] sensor wear time) and outcome goals (e.g., improve time in range [TIR]) and could earn up to $180 in each 3-month intervention cycle. Adolescents cycled through 3 study arms every 3 months: gain-framed payment where adolescents earned money for meeting behavioral goals, loss-framed payment where adolescents lost a portion of a weekly payment for not meeting behavioral goals, and usual care. Adolescents earned or lost $1.75 per day in the financial incentives arms, and a $2.75 weekly bonus for meeting their outcome-based goal. Goals were modeled against study arms with generalized linear mixed models to account for the longitudinal nature of the crossover design. Results: Out of 39 participants (mean age 16.1 years, 54% male, mean baseline HbA1c 9.42%, 38% insulin pump use, 95% CGM use) , 34 completed the trial. Mean HbA1c aggregated over all interventions was lower compared to baseline at 9.07% (p=0.13) and there was no difference in HbA1c among the 3 arms. Compared to the mean TIR for those under usual care of 39%, mean TIR under gain- and loss-frames were 45% (p<0.01) and 43% (p<0.01) , respectively. Compared to a mean 41% behavioral goal attainment within usual care, mean behavioral goal attainment under gain- and loss-frames were 50% (p<0.01) and 45% (p<0.01) , respectively. Conclusions: Financial incentives can improve adolescent self-management behaviors and time in range in the short term and merits further longitudinal study to evaluate the effects on glycemic control and health care utilization. Disclosure F. Malik: n/a. T. Chen: None. M. Manzueta: None. J. Yi-frazier: None. C. Pihoker: None. J. L. Leblanc: None. S. K. Shah: None. D. Wright: None. Funding American Diabetes Association (1-18-ICTS-100)

Attitude-Based Segmentation of Residential Self-Selection and Travel Behavior Changes Affected by COVID-19

This study evaluated the effects of COVID-19 on attitudes toward residential associated with travel behavior on decisions regarding future relocation. Chi-square automatic interaction detection was used to generate tree and classification segments to investigate the various segmentations of travelers and residents around mass transit stations. The decision tree revealed that the most influential variables were the number of transport card ownerships, walking distance to the nearest mass station, number of households, type of resident, property ownership, travel cost, and trip frequency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have concentrated on reducing travel time, reducing the number of transfers, and decreasing unnecessary trips. Consequently, people who live near mass transit stations less than 400 and 400–1000 m away prefer to live in residential and rural areas in the future. Structural Equation Modeling was used to confirm the relationship between attitudes in normal and pandemic situations. According to the findings, attitudes toward residential accessibility of travel modes were a significant determinant of attitudes toward residential location areas. This research demonstrates travelers’ and residents’ uncertain decision-making regarding relocation, allowing policymakers and transport authorities to better understand their behavior to improve transportation services.

Does Land Transfer Improve Farmers’ Quality of Life? Evidence from Rural China

The topic of quality of life has long been a focus of global research and the public. The land transfer policy implemented by the Chinese government affects farmers’ quality of life (FQOL); however, the extent of this effect remains unclear. As land transfer may be a self-selection behaviour, it may be subject to selection bias such that traditional measurement methods are unable to effectively estimate its quantitative impact. This study used data from a questionnaire given to 5668 rural households in 25 provinces of mainland China. It sought to quantify the impact of land transfer on FQOL by using endogenous switching regression (ESR) models to correct selection bias. The results show: (1) for farmers who choose to transfer land, if they choose not to transfer land, FQOL may decrease by 64.11%; (2) for farmers who choose not to transfer their land, if they go on to choose to transfer their land, FQOL may increase by 0.75%; (3) land transfer can improve the quality of life of the older generation of farmers but will reduce the quality of life of the newer generation. The results of this study provide research support for China and other countries seeking to effectively implement land policies and improve the FQOL, helping to provide practical strategies for the sustainable development of rural areas.

Is solicitation status related to rating conservatism and rating quality?

This paper discusses the association between rating solicitation status and rating quality. Our model shows that if firms with a declining trend of performance are less likely to solicit ratings from credit rating agencies, these firms are more conservatively rated, as their self-selection behaviour is seen as a signal of high credit risk. Our empirical results support the predictions of the model proposed in this study and show that: first, when controlling for fundamental factors, unsolicited ratings are lower than solicited ones, and; second, the rating qualities of both types of ratings are not significantly different from each other.

Comparison of Gatekeeping and Non-gatekeeping Designs in a Service System with Delay-sensitive Customers

This paper is motivated by a concern in China’s current medical practice in which patients can bypass the primary care and seek secondary care directly. We employ a queueing approach to examine two settings, i.e. the gatekeeping and non-gatekeeping settings, in a service system consisting of two types of service provider — one with basic skills (C-H), e.g. community hospital, and the other with advanced skills (AAA-H), e.g. specialist hospital. Customers are heterogeneous with respect to service requirement. The C-H can only serve customers with a complexity level of service requirement lower than the cure threshold, while the AAA-H can serve all customers. We aim to analyze the social planner’s capacity decision for the C-H in both settings and assess the relative merit of each setting with respect to total social welfare, i.e. the sum of customer benefits net of customer delay costs and service providers’ operating costs. Our findings show that when the C-H’s capacity is exogenous, the gatekeeper setting is preferable if the capacity of the C-H is in the intermediate range because customers’ self-selection behavior gives rise to negative externality. When the C-H’s capacity is optimized by the social planner, the non-gatekeeping setting is preferable if the capacity of the AAA-H is large or the cure threshold is high, because customers’ self-selection behavior as well as the investment in the C-H’s capacity can result in a better distribution of demand among the two service providers. The gatekeeping setting is preferable if the cure threshold is low because it is economical for the social planner to invest in a large capacity in the C-H to serve all customers. We also show numerically the conditions under which the two settings can achieve the first-best solution.

Management of Minor Ailments by Community Pharmacists in Cebu, Philippines – An Exploratory Study

Background. Community pharmacists play a central role in the management of minor ailments and their clinicalknowledge is vital in improving treatment outcomes of these ailments. The provision of minor ailment servicein developed countries has been successful yet the practice in the Philippines has not been documented.
 Objectives. The aim of this study was to document the involvement of community pharmacists in the managementof minor ailments, the practices, and the perceived challenges in the provision of pharmacy service.
 Methods. This was an exploratory descriptive study. Using qualitative research technique, a guided interviewquestionnaire was employed for data gathering. The practices employed and perceived challenges encounteredby pharmacists were interpreted using conventional content analysis.
 Results. Colds, cough, skin allergy, diarrhea were the four most common ailments managed by communitypharmacists. Pharmacists had underdeveloped roles in consultation. Community pharmacists were knowledgeableon the causes of the minor ailments and the medications dispensed were compliant with approved productindications. The absence of institutional guidelines (66%), lack of ailment-specific training (100%), insufficientclinical skills (76.7%), and a dominant patient self-selection behavior for OTC medicines (73.3%) were perceived aschallenges in the provision of minor ailment services.
 Conclusion. Community pharmacists managed common ailments with non-prescription medicines howeverconsultation roles were found to be underdeveloped.

Can Online Rating Reflect Authentic Customer Purchase Feelings? Understanding How Customer Dissatisfaction Relates to Negative Reviews

ABSTRACT The fast growth in online word of mouth (online WOM) reviews has witnessed their wide applications in assisting customers in their purchases. While many positive factors about these reviews have been identified, biases may result from reviewers’ self-selection behavior. To examine whether online WOM ratings reflect authentic customer purchase feelings, this study focuses on the relation between customer dissatisfaction and negative reviews. First, the reviews are fine grained into feature-opinion pairs, after which three explanatory variables are designed to represent the individual, collective, and comprehensive (individual and collective) complaints, with the online rating being considered as the explained variable. Finally, a simple linear regression model is built to determine the relation between customer dissatisfaction (represented by discounting marks of ratings) and negative reviews. Our analysis finds that personal complaints have a positive effect on rating and the most frequent customer complaints have no significant effect on customer ratings.

Personal Data Market Optimization Pricing Model Based on Privacy Level

In the era of the digital economy, data has become a new key production factor, and personal data represents the monetary value of a data-driven economy. Both the public and private sectors want to use these data for research and business. However, due to privacy issues, access to such data is limited. Given the business opportunities that have gaps between demand and supply, we consider establishing a private data market to resolve supply and demand conflicts. While there are many challenges to building such a data market, we only focus on three technical challenges: (1) How to provide a fair trading mechanism between data providers and data platforms? (2) What is the consumer’s attitude toward privacy data? (3) How to price personal data to maximize the profit of the data platform? In this paper, we first propose a compensation mechanism based on the privacy attitude of the data provider. Second, we analyze consumer self-selection behavior and establish a non-linear model to represent consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP). Finally, we establish a bi-level programming model and use genetic simulated annealing algorithm to solve the optimal pricing problem of personal data. The experimental results show that multi-level privacy division can meet the needs of consumers and maximize the profit of data platform.

Adaptive Effects of Seeing Green Environment on Psychophysiological Parameters When Walking or Running.

Several studies have investigated the influence of perceiving colors on affective outcomes and/or performance. However, the effects of seeing colors on self-selected behaviors have received little attention from physiologists and psychologists. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining whether exposure to green and red environments could influence affective judgments, perception of effort, heart rate, and gait speeds when walking and running at a self-selected pace. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: Green, red, or white (neutral) environment. The experimental task consisted in a 20-min trial of either walking (Study 1) or running (Study 2) at the most comfortable speed on a treadmill surrounded by three large HD TV screens displaying specific properties of the studied colors. Study 1 revealed that walking in a green environment induced a significant reduction in heart rate values as compared to the red and white conditions although no differences in gait speed were found. This corroborates the calming and relaxing effect of green on the human organism. Study 2 showed that running in a green environment was associated with an increased level of perceived exertion at similar speeds (compared to other color conditions), while exposure to red induced a significant decrease in the level of tension. In both studies, the preferred gait speed was not affected by the colored environment which is discussed in relation to the energy-conservation principle. Furthermore, both studies showed that performing a 20-min walk or run at preferred pace presented beneficial mood changes. Implications of the effects of self-selected exercise under colored environments on human functioning are addressed in the discussion.

Agricultural production mode transformation and production efficiency

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of farmers’ agricultural production mode transformation, from the perspective of agricultural division of labor and cooperation, on their agricultural production efficiency including technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyzes the impact of the agricultural production mode’s transformation on farmers’ agricultural production efficiency, based on the classical theory of division of labor and specialization, transaction costs and cooperation. It uses 2013 survey data from 396 farms in 15 Chinese provinces to explore the contributing factors of agricultural production efficiency using a double selection model (DSM), which can correct the endogenous selection bias in farmers’ decisions.FindingsFarmers that participate in agricultural division of labor and cooperation means transform their agricultural production from a traditional self-sufficient mode to one that is specialized and intensive. Agricultural division of labor measured by farmers’ participation in an agricultural division of labor in the production stages, or in agricultural products, and agricultural cooperation measured by farmers’ participation in farmers’ cooperatives significantly and positively influence their agricultural production efficiency after correcting farmers’ endogenous selection bias.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a unified framework to analyze the impact of farmers’ agricultural production mode transformation on their production efficiency. Further, it builds a DSM for an empirical analysis to avoid the endogenous biases in farmers’ self-selection behavior. This paper also provides ways for policy makers to improve farmers’ agricultural production efficiency from the modern agricultural production perspective.

Comparative advantage, product quality, and the competitiveness of firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of product quality in differentiated-products markets in determining the structure of competition among firms.Design/methodology/approachFirst, two distinct models of firm heterogeneity are considered as two possible structures for firms’ competition: “price competition” and “quality competition.” Then, the author exploits the bilateral trade data of the world’s 83 largest countries in order to examine a link between the empirical findings and the theoretical models.FindingsThe empirical findings support a model of “quality competition” rather than “price competition,” in which firms in a country with a comparative advantage in a given product tend to improve their product quality as opposed to lowering production costs, so they compete on the quality-adjusted price.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper used product-level data to examine the spatial pattern of the average export unit value of a product, which is able to answer the question of whether an industry is involved with quality competition. The product-level data used in this study, however, are not ideally suitable for exploring the predictions of a heterogeneous firms’ trade model.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates a relationship between the country-product pair of comparative advantages and firms’ self-selection behavior in the product-level data to shed light on the role of product quality in determining the structure of firms’ competition.

Social Protection for the Informal Sector in Urban China: Institutional Constraints and Self-selection Behaviour

AbstractThe Chinese government has recently expanded the scope of urban social insurance programmes. However, social protection for the labour force of the urban informal sector, which reaches about half the number of urban workers, lags significantly behind. This under-coverage may be due to institutional constraints, particularly the household registration system hukou, and self-selection behaviour related to the limited benefits of social insurance. Drawing on a recent nationwide individual-level survey and city-level statistics, this study examines these two explanations for the under-enrolment on the social insurance programme. First, results suggest that hukou and the intergovernmental fiscal system are major institutional constraints. Second, self-selection behaviour in programme enrolment is verified. Employers in the informal sector are likely to opt out of social insurance. More importantly, employers in the informal sector, with rural or non-local hukou, are likely to opt out of social insurance, which suggests that self-selection behaviour is constrained by institutions. Such findings have important implications for broad theoretical and policy debates on universal social protection.