The aim of the Programme d'Actions pour une Retraite Indépendante (PARI), launched in 2015 by the Régime Social des Indépendants (Social security scheme for self-employed workers – RSI), is to propose a threefold, global, proactive and targeted approach to promote the use of various social assistance by craftsmen and merchants aged 60 to 79 with a view to preventing loss of autonomy. The central assumption is that the elasticity of demand for medical goods and services is sensitive to social assistance. The aim of this work is to assess the causal impact of the PARI programme on the healthcare consumption of elderly self-employed workers using a difference-in-differences method. The identification of the effect is based on the implementation of the PARI programme in volunteers’ regions. The results indicate that the programme reduces one-off healthcare behaviours in favour of a more regular relationship with the healthcare system.

Citation: Augé, E. & Sirven, N. (2024). The Impact of a Social Programme on the Healthcare Consumption of Elderly Self-Employed Workers in France. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 542, 79–98. doi: 10.24187/ecostat.2024.542.2112