Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0

Author-Name: Daniel Gama e Colombo
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Brazil
Author-Workplace-Email: daniel.colombo@ipea.gov.br

Author-Name: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
Author-Workplace-Name: International Center for Public Policy (Georgia State University) and Governance and Economics Research Network (GEN)
Author-Workplace-Email: jorgemartinez@gsu.edu

Title: Lifetime Survivor Pensions of Daughters of Military Personnel and Educational Choices in Brazil 

Abstract: This paper investigates whether the expectation of a future lifetime survivor pension affects the educational choices of individuals and their families, focusing on the case of military daughters in Brazil. To assess this effect, we exploit a policy reform in the early 2000s that eliminated permanent pensions. The empirical analysis is based on microdata on daughters of different cohorts, and the impact of the permanent pensions is estimated using the average treatment effect (ATE) and the inverse-probability-weighted regression-adjusted estimator (IPWRA). The findings indicate that eligibility for lifetime pensions induced a 12.4-percent reduction in the average number of years of education, thus supporting the argument that generous social security benefits can act as a disincentive to education. The findings have relevant implications for the design of survivor pensions and other social security benefits, while also highlighting an inefficiency stemming from the Brazilian pension system.

Length: 45 pages

Creation-Date: 2024-04

File-URL: https://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2024/04/paper2403.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf

Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2403