Can Pensions Save Lives? Evidence from the Introduction of Old-Age Assistance in the United Kingdom
中文摘要
我们以1909年英国公共养老金的引入作为准自然实验,研究老年救助对死亡率的影响。通过估计双重差分和事件时间设计,我们发现英格兰和威尔士的老年人死亡率随养老金的引入而下降。所估计的下降幅度在经济上具有重要意义,在领取养老金者较多的郡效果更强,且由传染病和非传染病死亡人数的减少共同驱动。对全量个体层面人口普查数据的分析表明,居住拥挤程度的降低以及退休——尤其是从与高死亡率相关的职业退休——可能是其中的作用渠道。
Abstract
We study the impact of old-age assistance on mortality using the 1909 introduction of public pensions in the United Kingdom as a quasi-natural experiment. Estimating difference-in-differences and an event-time design, we show that elderly mortality in England and Wales declined with the pension introduction. The estimated decline is economically relevant, stronger in counties with more pensioners, and driven by fewer deaths from both infectious and non-infectious diseases. Analyzing full-count individual-level census data points to a reduction in residential crowding and retirement, especially from occupations associated with high mortality rates, as likely channels.