Activation against absenteeism - Evidence from a sickness insurance reform in Norway
Link to article:
Authors:
Hernæs, Øystein M.
Year:
2018
Reference:
vol 62, 60-68Summary
I evaluate a program aimed at strictly enforcing a requirement that people on long-term sick leave be partly back at work unless explicitly defined as an exception. Employing the synthetic control method, I find that the reform reduced work-hours lost due to sickness absenteeism by 12% in the reform region compared to a comparison unit created by a weighted average of similar regions. The effect is driven by both increased part-time presence of temporary disabled workers and accelerated recovery. Musculoskeletal disorders was the diagnosis group declining the most. The findings imply large savings in social security expenditures.
JEL:
I18, I38, J48
