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Income Risk and the Benefits of Social Insurance: Evidence from Indonesia and the United States

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  • Raj Chetty
  • Adam Looney

Abstract

This paper examines the welfare consequences of social safety nets in developing economies relative to developed economies. Using panel surveys of households in Indonesia and the United States, we find that food consumption falls by approximately ten percent when individuals become unemployed in both countries. This finding suggests that introducing a formal social insurance program would have small benefits in terms of reducing consumption fluctuations in Indonesia. However, in contrast with households in the U.S., Indonesians use costly methods such as reducing human capital investment to smooth consumption. The primary benefit of social insurance in developing countries may therefore come not from consumption smoothing itself but from reducing the use of inefficient smoothing methods.

Suggested Citation

  • Raj Chetty & Adam Looney, 2005. "Income Risk and the Benefits of Social Insurance: Evidence from Indonesia and the United States," NBER Working Papers 11708, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11708
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    Cited by:

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    2. Carlos medina & Jairo Núñez & Jorge Andrés Tamayo, 2013. "The Unemployment Subsidy Program in Colombia: An Assessment," Borradores de Economia 750, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. Liu, Kai, 2016. "Insuring against health shocks: Health insurance and household choices," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 16-32.
    4. Lawrence J. Christiano, 2011. "Comment on "Unemployment in an Estimated New Keynesian Model"," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2011, Volume 26, pages 361-380, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Harsha Thirumurthy & Joshua Graff Zivin & Markus Goldstein, 2008. "The Economic Impact of AIDS Treatment: Labor Supply in Western Kenya," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(3), pages 511-552.
    6. François Gerard & Joana Naritomi, 2021. "Job Displacement Insurance and (the Lack of) Consumption-Smoothing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 899-942, March.
    7. World Bank, 2006. "Making the New Indonesia Work for the Poor," World Bank Publications - Reports 8172, The World Bank Group.
    8. Anand, Priyanka & Dague, Laura & Wagner, Kathryn L., 2022. "The role of paid family leave in labor supply responses to a spouse's disability or health shock," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Iwamoto, Yasushi & Kohara, Miki & Saito, Makoto, 2010. "On the consumption insurance effects of long-term care insurance in Japan: Evidence from micro-level household data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 99-115, March.
    10. Christiano, Lawrence J. & Trabandt, Mathias & Walentin, Karl, 2010. "DSGE Models for Monetary Policy Analysis," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 7, pages 285-367, Elsevier.
    11. Chetty, Raj & Looney, Adam, 2006. "Consumption smoothing and the welfare consequences of social insurance in developing economies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(12), pages 2351-2356, December.
    12. Jungho Kim & Alexia Prskawetz, 2010. "External Shocks, Household Consumption and Fertility in Indonesia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(4), pages 503-526, August.
    13. Pande, Rohini, 2008. "Understanding Political Corruption in Low Income Countries," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 50, pages 3155-3184, Elsevier.
    14. A. Devulder, 2014. "Heterogeneity, Unemployment Benefits and Voluntary Labor Force Participation," Working papers 493, Banque de France.
    15. François Gerard & Gustavo Gonzaga, 2013. "Informal Labor and the Cost of Social Programs: Evidence from 15 Years of Unemployment Insurance in Brazil," Textos para discussão 608, Department of Economics PUC-Rio (Brazil).
    16. Bruno Rocha, 2010. "At Different Speeds: Policy Complementarities and the Recovery from the Asian Crisis," Working Papers id:3294, eSocialSciences.
    17. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Rema Hanna & Gabriel E. Kreindler & Benjamin A. Olken, 2017. "Debunking the Stereotype of the Lazy Welfare Recipient: Evidence from Cash Transfer Programs," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 32(2), pages 155-184.
    18. François Gerard & Gustavo Gonzaga, 2011. "Unemployment Insurance in Developing Countries: The Case of Brazil," Textos para discussão 593, Department of Economics PUC-Rio (Brazil).
    19. Arpit Gupta & Anup Malani & Bartek Woda, 2021. "Explaining the Income and Consumption Effects of COVID in India," NBER Working Papers 28935, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Ivica Petrikova & Dhruv Chadha, 2013. "The Role of Social Capital in Risk-Sharing," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 8(3), pages 359-383, December.

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