Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

The Anatomy of Absenteeism

Contents:

Author Info

  • Markussen, Simen

    () (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

  • Røed, Knut

    () (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

  • Røgeberg, Ole J.

    () (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

  • Gaure, Simen

    () (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

Abstract

Based on comprehensive administrative register data from Norway, we examine the determinants of sickness absence behavior; in terms of employee characteristics workplace characteristics, panel doctor characteristics, and economic conditions. The analysis is based on a novel concept of a worker's steady state sickness absence propensity, computed from a multivariate hazard rate model designed to predict the incidence and the duration of sickness absence for all workers. Key conclusions are i) that most of the cross-sectional variation in absenteeism is caused by genuine employee heterogeneity; ii) that the identity of a person's panel doctor has a significant impact on absence propensity; iii) that sickness absence insurance is frequently certified for reasons other than sickness; and iv) that the recovery rate rises enormously just prior to the exhaustion of sickness insurance benefits.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
File URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp4240.pdf
Download Restriction: no

Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 4240.

as in new window
Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2009
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Journal of Health Economics, 2011, 30 (2), 277-292
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4240

Contact details of provider:
Postal: IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 228 3894 223
Fax: +49 228 3894 180
Web page: http://www.iza.org

Order Information:
Postal: IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Email:

Related research

Keywords: sickness absence; multivariate hazards; NPMLE; MMPH;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References

References listed on IDEAS
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.:
as in new window
  1. Heckman, James & Singer, Burton, 1984. "A Method for Minimizing the Impact of Distributional Assumptions in Econometric Models for Duration Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 271-320, March.
  2. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good For Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650, May.
  3. Henrekson, Magnus & Persson, Mats, 2001. "The Effects on Sick Leave of Changes in the Sickness Insurance System," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 0444, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 08 Aug 2001.
  4. Fevang, Elisabeth & Kverndokk, Snorre & Røed, Knut, 2008. "Informal Care and Labor Supply," IZA Discussion Papers 3717, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. David Card & Raj Chetty & Andrea Weber, 2007. "The Spike at Benefit Exhaustion: Leaving the Unemployment System or Starting a New Job?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 113-118, May.
  6. Askildsen, Jan Erik & Bratberg, Espen & Nilsen, Øivind Anti, 2002. "Unemployment, labour force composition and sickness absence. A panel data study," Working paper Series 0205, Department of Economics, University of Bergen.
  7. Goffe, William L. & Ferrier, Gary D. & Rogers, John, 1994. "Global optimization of statistical functions with simulated annealing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1-2), pages 65-99.
  8. Andrea Ichino & Regina T. Riphahn, 2005. "The Effect of Employment Protection on Worker Effort: Absenteeism During and After Probation," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 120-143, 03.
  9. Ichino, Andrea & Moretti, Enrico, 2006. "Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 2207, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  10. Per Johansson & Mårten Palme, 2002. "Assessing the Effect of Public Policy on Worker Absenteeism," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(2), pages 381-409.
  11. Heckman, J & Singer, B, 1984. "The Identifiability of the Proportional Hazard Model," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 231-41, April.
  12. Markussen, Simen, 2009. "Closing the Gates? Evidence from a Natural Experiment on Physicians' Sickness Certification," Memorandum 19/2009, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
  13. Gaure, Simen & Røed, Knut & Zhang, Tao, 2005. "Time and Causality: A Monte Carlo Assessment of the Timing-of-Events Approach," Memorandum 19/2005, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
  14. Arai, Mahmood & Skogman Thoursie, Peter, 2001. "Incentives and Selection in Cyclical Absenteeism," Working Paper Series 167, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
  15. Knut Roed & Tao Zhang, 2003. "Does Unemployment Compensation Affect Unemployment Duration?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(484), pages 190-206, January.
  16. Anna Amilon & Mårten Wallette, 2009. "Work Absence - A Signalling Factor for Temporary Workers?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 23(1), pages 171-194, 03.
  17. Lusine Lusinyan & Leo Bonato, 2007. "Work Absence in Europe," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 54(3), pages 475-538, July.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. ¿Funcionarán las medidas contra el absentismo en el sector público?
    by Samuel Bentolila in Nada Es Gratis on 2012-05-22 06:00:37
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
as in new window

Cited by:
  1. Westergård-Nielsen, Niels C. & Pertold, Filip, 2012. "Firm Insurance and Sickness Absence of Employees," IZA Discussion Papers 6782, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Nicolas R. Ziebarth & Martin Karlsson, 2009. "The Effects of Expanding the Generosity of the Statutory Sickness Insurance System," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 245, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  3. Fevang, Elisabeth & Hardoy, Inés & Røed, Knut, 2013. "Getting Disabled Workers Back to Work: How Important Are Economic Incentives?," IZA Discussion Papers 7137, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  4. Susi St�rmer & René Fahr, 2013. "Individual determinants of work attendance: evidence on the role of personality," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 45(19), pages 2863-2875, July.
  5. Nyborg, Karine & Brekke, Kjell Arne, 2009. "Selfish Bakers, Caring Nurses? A Model of Work Motivation," HERO On line Working Paper Series 2008:1, Oslo University, Health Economics Research Programme.
  6. Aakvik, Arild & Holmås, Tor Helge & Kjerstad, Egil, 2012. "Hospital Capacity, Waiting Times and Sick Leave Duration - an Empirical Analysis of a Norwegian Health Policy Reform," Working Papers in Economics 10/12, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
  7. Fevang, Elisabeth & Markussen, Simen & Røed, Knut, 2011. "The Sick Pay Trap," IZA Discussion Papers 5655, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  8. Rieck, Karsten Marshall E. & Telle, Kjetil, 2012. "Sick Leave Before, During and After Pregnancy," Working Papers in Economics 06/12, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
  9. Karsten Marshall Elseth Rieck & Kjetil Telle, 2012. "Sick leave before, during and after pregnancy," Discussion Papers 690, Research Department of Statistics Norway.

Lists

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Corrections

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4240

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Mark Fallak).

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.