The authors investigate the connection between social security and private transfers in Peru, using data of the Peruvian Living Standards Survey. They find that private transfers from young to old would have been nearly 20 per cent higher without social security benefits. This indicates that the...

According to the authors, knowing about informal risk-sharing institutions is important for understanding the determinants of the well-being of poor people in developing countries. Formal credit and insurance markets are less widespread than in developed countries, and publicly provided social...