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What happens when the definition of disability changes? The case of obesity

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  • Jennifer Shinall

Abstract

This paper examines how Congress’s 2008 expansion of who is disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) impacts the labor market outcomes of newly covered individuals. Focusing on obese individuals, I exploit variation in coverage of obesity before and after the 2008 expansion to identify effects of the legal change, but I find no improvement in the labor market outcomes of the obese. Although the 2008 expansion was intended to remedy the unintended consequences of the ADA and improve labor market outcomes of the disabled, these early estimates suggest that the expansion has not yet achieved Congress’s stated goals. JEL codes: J14, J21, J78, K31 Copyright Shinall. 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Shinall, 2016. "What happens when the definition of disability changes? The case of obesity," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-30, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izalbr:v:5:y:2016:i:1:p:1-30:10.1186/s40172-016-0041-0
    DOI: 10.1186/s40172-016-0041-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Rachel Inafuku, 2022. "Only the Fit Survive Recessions: Estimating Labor Market Penalties for the Obese Over the Business Cycle," Working Papers 202201, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ADA; Disability law; Obesity; Employment discrimination; Law in action;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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