Activation against absenteeism - Evidence from a sickness insurance reform in Norway

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Forfattere:

Hernæs, Øystein M.

År:

2018

Referanse:

Journal of Health Economics

Sammendrag (engelsk)

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