Determinants of voluntary social insurance in Morocco

Abstract

The Moroccan pension system follows a "Bismarkian" model. It is characterized by the coexistence of several pension schemes and is aimed exclusively at organized socio-professional groups whose right of access is acquired through a contribution based on salary. Despite the multiplicity and diversity of the Moroccan pension system, it is characterized by low coverage, which does not exceed 40% of the active population. This low coverage rate is largely the result of informal sector workers not joining the social security system. The issue of low coverage will be addressed here via the determinants of voluntary insurance by a pension scheme. Based on data from the 2016 National Social Security Survey, we analyze the propensity to be covered (voluntarily) by a pension scheme (with private insurance companies) for people not entitled to be covered by compulsory basic public schemes. This is the population of liberal professions (doctors, lawyers, notaries, etc.), self-employed and all workers in the informal sector. The (voluntary) coverage rate for this population is 43.8%. Estimates were made using a binary logit model. The econometric results indicate that investment in human capital, in terms of education, favors the probability of being covered. While agricultural workers are significantly less likely to be covered. On the other hand, owning a second home is a potential source of income in old age among the Moroccan population. Moreover, one of the limitations of this work is the lack of information on the incomes of these workers in order to estimate their impacts on the propensity to be covered.

JEL Classification : D14, H55, I13, J26

Paper type: Empirical research