Closing the gates? - Evidence from a natural experiment on physicians’ sickness certification
Link to article:
Authors:
Markussen, Simen
Year:
2009
Reference:
Andre skrifter
Summary
This paper exploits a reform in Norwegian sick-leave regulations to examine the potential for physicians’ gate keeping. Physicians were required to consider part-time sick-leave as the default treatment and – in the case of long lasting full-time sick-leave – to file a report clarifying why the worker was unable to perform any work related activities. The reform had a large impact, reducing sick-leave by around 20 percent, for all groups of workers. It affected inflow to as well as outflow from sick-leave. The results also indicate that policies toward physicians may be an (cost-) effective way of reducing sick-leave and increasing labor-supply.
JEL:
H53, I18, J28
Keywords:
Labor market policies, sick-leave, physicians’ gate keeping
Project:
Oppdragsgiver: Norges forskningsrådOppdragsgivers prosjektnr.:
Frisch prosjekt: 1134 - A viable welfare state
Oppdragsgiver: Norges forskningsråd
Oppdragsgivers prosjektnr.: 187924
Frisch prosjekt: 4132 - Absenteeism in Norway - Causes, Censequences, and Policy Implications
Contact:
simen.markussen@frisch.uio.no
Financing:
The Norwegian Research Council
