Abstract: This paper studies the impact of basic old-age insurance for urban and rural residents on the labor supply of the elderly using the regression-discontinuity method. Empirical evidences show that the policy reduces the working hours per week of the elderly significantly, so that the group who receives basic old-age insurance is 5.32 hours less than the group who does not. The impact of the policy on female labor supply is more significant than that on male. Besides, the impact of the policy on the labor supply of the elderly was not significant in 2011, but gradually became significant in 2013 and 2015 with the increase of benefit level. Further research shows that for groups with low income level or tighter budget constraints, the impact of endowment insurance on their labor supply is more significant. That is, the main beneficiaries of policy welfare are the people with poor economic conditions. This is in line with the original intention of the policy and reflects the fair value of society. These findings have reference value for optimizing endowment insurance policy.

Key words: old-age insurance for urban and rural residents, labor supply, the elderly, regression-discontinuity