Reformer i det chilenske pensjonssystemet
Chiles privatisert pensjonssystem har blitt hyllet som mulig modell for andre land. Samtidig har det blitt kritisert for å ha et for svakt sikkerhetsnett. Dette var bakgrunnen for at det i 2008 ble tatt initiativ til en pensjonsreform i landet. De første erfaringene med denne reformen drøftes i dette notatet fra Universitetet i Pennsylvania.
In response, the Bachelet government in 2008 implemented reforms to rectify this shortcoming. Here we offer the first systematic effort to directly evaluate the reform’s impacts, focusing on the new Basic Solidarity Pension for poor households with at least one person age 65+. Using the Social Protection Survey, we show that targeted poor households received about 2.4 percent more household annual income, with little evidence of crowding-out of private transfers. We also suggest that recipient household welfare probably increased due to slightly higher expenditures on basic consumption including healthcare, more leisure hours, and improved self-reported health. While measured short-run effects are small, follow-ups will be essential to gauge longer-run outcomes.