Barriers to Saving for Retirement: Evidence from a Public Pension Program in Mongolia
We study constraints to pension participation using a large-scale randomized control trial (RCT) and administrative records covering approximately 40 percent of Mongolian subdistricts. Our analysis reveals a reasonable increase in the pension contribution rate by providing information on a mobile payment option. We also find that information about development assistance experts involved in the pension administration increases the contribution rate. These effects, amounting to around 10 percent of the mean, suggest that individuals’ perceived transaction costs and trust in the program influence their pension demand. Development assistance seems to facilitate citizens’ participation in government programs by changing their perceptions of these services.
This paper has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics and is scheduled for publication in spring 2025.
Keywords: Randomized control trial, pension, mobile phones, official development assistance, information provision, Mongolia
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