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Unemployment, labor force composition and sickness absence: a panel data study

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Author Info
Jan Erik Askildsen (Department of Economics, University of Bergen, Norway)
Espen Bratberg (Department of Economics, University of Bergen, Norway)
Øivind Anti Nilsen (Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Norway)

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Abstract

Sickness absence tends to be negatively correlated with unemployment rates. In addition to pure health effects, this may be due to moral hazard behavior by workers who are fully insured against income loss during sickness and to physicians who meet demand for medical certificates. Alternatively, it may reflect changes in the composition of the labor force, with more sickness-prone workers entering the labor force in upturns. A panel of Norwegian register data is used to analyze long-term sickness absences. The unemployment rate is shown to be negatively associated with the probability of absence, and with the number of days of sick leave. Restricting the sample to workers who are present in the whole sample period, the negative relationship between absence and unemployment becomes clearer. This indicates that procyclical variations in sickness absence are caused by established workers and not by the composition of the labor force. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/hec.994
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Publisher Info
Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 14 (2005)
Issue (Month): 11 ()
Pages: 1087-1101
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Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:14:y:2005:i:11:p:1087-1101

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Web page: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Boone, Jan & van Ours, Jan C, 2002. "Cyclical Fluctuations in Workplace Accidents," CEPR Discussion Papers 3655, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Leigh, J. Paul, 1985. "The effects of unemployment and the business cycle on absenteeism," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 159-170, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good For Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Riphahn, Regina T. & Thalmaier, Anja, 1999. "Behavioral Effects of Probation Periods: An Analysis of Worker Absenteeism," IZA Discussion Papers 67, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  5. Johansson, Per & Palme, Marten, 1996. "Do economic incentives affect work absence? Empirical evidence using Swedish micro data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 195-218, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Allen, Steven G, 1981. "An Empirical Model of Work Attendance," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(1), pages 77-87, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Solveig Osborg Ose & Jan Morten Dyrstad, 2001. "Non-linear Unemployment Effects in Sickness Absence: Discipline or Composition Effects?," Working Paper Series 2502, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. [Downloadable!]
  8. McGuire, Thomas G., 2000. "Physician agency," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 461-536 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-44, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Arai, Mahmood & Skogman Thoursie, Peter, 2001. "Incentives and Selection in Cyclical Absenteeism," Working Paper Series 167, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2000. "Chapter 34 Equity in health care finance and delivery," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 34, pages 1803-1862 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Kenyon, Peter & Dawkins, Peter, 1989. "A Time Series Analysis of Labour Absence in Australia," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(2), pages 232-39, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Barmby, Tim & Sessions, John G & Treble, John G, 1994. " Absenteeism, Efficiency Wages and Shirking," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 96(4), pages 561-66.
  14. Robert Drago & Mark Wooden, 1992. "The determinants of labor absence: Economic factors and workgroup norms across countries," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 45(4), pages 764-778, July.
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  1. Johansson, Edvard & Böckerman, Petri & Uutela, Antti, 2007. "Alcohol Consumption and Sickness Absence: Evidence from Panel Data," MPRA Paper 6398, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Lindbeck, Assar, 2003. "Improving the Performance of the European Social Model - The Welfare State over the Life Cycle," Working Paper Series 587, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. René Fahr & Bernd Frick, 2007. "On the Inverse Relationship between Unemployment and Absenteeism: Evidence from Natural Experiments and Worker Heterogeneity," IZA Discussion Papers 3171, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Boone, J. & Ours, J.C. van, 2002. "Cyclical fluctuations in workplace accidents," Discussion Paper 98, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Hesselius, Patrik, 2003. "Does Sick Absence Increase the Risk of Unemployment?," Working Paper Series 2003:15, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Bertil Holmlund, 2004. "Sickness Absence and Search Unemployment," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Røed, Knut & Fevang, Elisabeth, 2005. "Organisational Change, Absenteeism and Welfare Dependency," Memorandum 20/2005, Oslo University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2009. "Long-Term Absenteeism and Moral Hazard: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," SOEPpapers 172, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Andreas Kuhn & Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, 2009. "The Public Health Costs of Job Loss," NRN working papers 2009-13, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. [Downloadable!]
  10. Andreas Kuhn & Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, 2009. "The public health costs of job loss," IEW - Working Papers iewwp424, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  11. Per Engström & Bertil Holmlund, 2005. "Worker Absenteeism in Search Equilibrium," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Böckerman, Petri & Ilmakunnas, Pekka, 2006. "Interaction of job disamenities, job satisfaction, and sickness absences: Evidence from a representative sample of Finnish workers," MPRA Paper 1800, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  13. Andreas KUHN & Rafael LALIVE & Josef ZWEIMÜLLER, 2007. "The Public Health Costs of Unemployment," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'Econométrie et d'Economie politique (DEEP) 07.08, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, DEEP. [Downloadable!]
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