Barriers to Public Pension Program Participation in a Developing Country

Abstract Increasing public pension participation rates in developing countries is an important policyobjective. We study three possible constraints to such participation by using a randomized controltrial and the administrative records covering about 40 percent of Mongolian subdistricts. We findthat providing information about subsidiary monetary benefits (survivors' and disability pensions)does not increase participation significantly. However, providing information about the mobilephone payment of pension funds and dispatching experts to a pension administrative agency froma foreign aid agency both increase payments. These results imply that perceived transaction costsand trust affect demand for pension services. They also suggest that foreign aid can affect citizens' participation in public services by changing their perception of these services.