  This paper examines the impact of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) in
China. Exploiting the staggered implementation of an NRPS policy expansion that
began in 2009, we use a difference-in-difference approach to study the effects
of the introduction of pension benefits on the health status, health behaviors,
and healthcare utilization of rural Chinese adults age 60 and above. The
results point to three main conclusions. First, in addition to improvements in
self-reported health, older adults with access to the pension program
experienced significant improvements in several important measures of health,
including mobility, self-care, usual activities, and vision. Second, regarding
the functional domains of mobility and self-care, we found that the females in
the study group led in improvements over their male counterparts. Third, in our
search for the mechanisms that drive positive retirement program results, we
find evidence that changes in individual health behaviors, such as a reduction
in drinking and smoking, and improved sleep habits, play an important role. Our
findings point to the potential benefits of retirement programs resulting from
social spillover effects. In addition, these programs may lessen the morbidity
burden among the retired population.
