The impact of high-level pension insurance on the health of older men: evidence from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS)

Abstract

Population ageing has increased the importance of understanding whether higher-level pension arrangements contribute to older adults’ health. This study examines the association between high-level pension insurance and health outcomes among older men in China. Using data from the 2022 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), supplemented with historical survey information to reconstruct pension type and age in months, we examined self-rated health, chronic disease, depressive mood, and life satisfaction. High-level pension insurance was defined as government or public-institution retirement pensions, enterprise supplementary pensions, and commercial pensions. A fuzzy regression discontinuity design around the age-60 threshold for men was applied using local linear estimation, triangular kernels, CCT data-driven bandwidths, mass-point adjustment, and robust bias-corrected inference. The first-stage discontinuity in high-level pension receipt was positive but bandwidth-sensitive and statistically imprecise at the treatment-optimal bandwidth. The fuzzy-RD estimates provided no statistically significant evidence of improvements in self-rated health, depressive mood, or life satisfaction. Although the chronic-disease estimate was nominally significant in the main specification, it was unstable across alternative specifications and placebo tests. This study does not provide robust causal evidence that high-level pension insurance improves older men’s health. The findings highlight the importance of pension classification, first-stage strength, and careful interpretation of age-based pension threshold designs. Not applicable.