Exceptional Argentina Di Tella, Glaeser and Llach - Thomas Piketty
Exceptional Argentina Di Tella, Glaeser and Llach - Thomas Piketty
Exceptional Argentina Di Tella, Glaeser and Llach - Thomas Piketty
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observationally equivalent individuals. For subordinate agents, the situation varies depending<br />
on the jurisdiction. In the Province of Buenos Aires, policeman earn more than observationally<br />
equivalent individuals, <strong>and</strong> agents of the PFA earn approximately the same as the median<br />
counterfactual wage. If the comparisons are meaningful 6 , these figures confirm that the<br />
explanation for the reversal of fortune does not seem t to arise from a particularly low monetary<br />
compensation. Moreover, unlike the Chilean case, Argentinean policeman get overtime<br />
payments, which can account for an additional 50 % of the wage in the PFA (Cordoba <strong>and</strong><br />
Pastor, 2003) or even 100% of their wage in the Police of the Province of Buenos Aires 7 .<br />
Pensions<br />
Becker <strong>and</strong> Stigler’s theory (1974) suggest that in order to always keep the future value of<br />
being in the Organization above the malfeasance threshold, optimal contracts need to offer<br />
good pensions. This back-ends a substantial portion of the compensation aligning incentives<br />
because the premium is paid after chances for misbehavior are over. In Chile the replacement<br />
rate (i.e. the ratio between the last salary <strong>and</strong> the pension) is 100%, so policemen keep their last<br />
salary forever. In <strong>Argentina</strong> it is also complete, although with some exceptions 8 . Timing is the<br />
other big ingredient impacting the net present value of Pension benefits. In Chile policeman<br />
can retire after 30 years in the organization. In <strong>Argentina</strong> it is after 35 years for agents of the<br />
Police of the Province of Buenos Aires <strong>and</strong> national security forces, except the PFA, which is<br />
after 30 years. For people that leave the Organization before this period, both police forces<br />
include a 20 year threshold that entitle policeman with some level of pension. The differences<br />
seem – again – relatively minor between the two countries. Both have early retirement vis-a-vis<br />
alternative occupations. Thus, prima facie, there seems to be no radical differences in terms of<br />
monetary wage <strong>and</strong> pension compensation that can fully justify the difference in performance<br />
between Chile <strong>and</strong> <strong>Argentina</strong>. As benchmark, wages of police officers in the US are higher than<br />
the average <strong>and</strong> also higher than the median wage for their observationally equivalent<br />
indivduals. 9 In contrast with Chile <strong>and</strong> <strong>Argentina</strong>, developed countries seem to weight more<br />
the compensation of active policeman <strong>and</strong> less the back ending of benefits.<br />
1. Non-wage benefits<br />
In both countries there are important non-wage benefits. Both Chile <strong>and</strong> <strong>Argentina</strong> have special<br />
health insurance <strong>and</strong> hospital for the police officers <strong>and</strong> their families. Similarly, taking<br />
advantage of the superior level of repayment monitoring, in both countries there is special<br />
access to credit. In the Police of the Province of Buenos Aires, for example, there are special<br />
credit facilities for members of the organization sponsored by the Provincial Pensions<br />
Administration. Namely, credits for up to 48 payment periods <strong>and</strong> the possibility of having<br />
more than one loan at the same time. In Chile many Carabineros can benefit from a partially<br />
subsidized assignment of publicly owned housing. In particular, this is more relevant for<br />
6 Note that to get compatibility between the administrative data <strong>and</strong> the household survey we used an estimate of<br />
inflation. Inflation measurement <strong>and</strong> misreport by authorities is a whole issue in <strong>Argentina</strong> today.<br />
7 Calculations based on the fact that policemen are allowed to do 8 extra hours per day, <strong>and</strong> that they are worth<br />
between 2 <strong>and</strong> 4 dollars per hour, depending on the service.<br />
8 In <strong>Argentina</strong> the replacement rate de facto is difficult to calculate, but seems well above 80% . Part of the wages<br />
are not considered for pension purposes to avoid the fiscal burden of indexation. By law, wage increases in the<br />
active Argentinean Police forces should also be mirrored by an increase in the pension payments for retired<br />
policeman. To avoid that, part of the benefits, which take the form of familiar allowances for members of the PFA<br />
<strong>and</strong> Buenos Aires Police, are technically paid as non wages but are de facto wages. This makes a de jure 100%<br />
replacement rate to be a de facto around 80%, roughly.<br />
9 See Wagner, 2008