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Work absences and doctor visits during an illness episode: The differential role of preferences, production, and policies among men and women

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  • Gilleskie, Donna

Abstract

This paper analyzes the absenteeism and medical care consumption behavior of employed men and women during an episode of acute illness. An individual's daily optimization decisions are modeled in a dynamic framework to evaluate the role of (1) preferences for absences and treatment, (2) effectiveness of these inputs on recovery, and (3) economic incentives in determining the number and timing of absences and doctor visits and the duration of illness. In general, men appear to be more responsive than women to changes in sick leave and health insurance mainly due to differences in preferences.

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  • Gilleskie, Donna, 2010. "Work absences and doctor visits during an illness episode: The differential role of preferences, production, and policies among men and women," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 156(1), pages 148-163, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:156:y:2010:i:1:p:148-163
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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher J. Cronin & Matthew C. Harris & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2022. "The Anatomy of U.S. Sick Leave Schemes: Evidence from Public School Teachers," NBER Working Papers 29956, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2015. "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing for Contagious Presenteeism and Shirking Behavior," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1509, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Maclean, J. Catherine & Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 13132, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Kurt Lavetti & Thomas DeLeire & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2023. "How do low‐income enrollees in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces respond to cost‐sharing?," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 90(1), pages 155-183, March.
    5. Titus J. Galama & Hans van Kippersluis, 2013. "Health Inequalities through the Lens of Health-Capital Theory: Issues, Solutions, and Future Directions," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Health and Inequality, volume 21, pages 263-284, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    6. Cronin, C.J.; & Harris, M. C.; & Ziebarth, N. R.;, 2024. "The Anatomy of U.S. Sick Leave Schemes:Evidence from Public School Teachers," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 24/10, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    7. Yan Zheng & Tomislav Vukina & Xiaoyong Zheng, 2021. "Risk aversion, moral hazard, and gender differences in health care utilization," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 46(1), pages 35-60, March.
    8. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2017. "The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-33.
    9. Johanna Catherine Maclean & Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R Ziebarth, 2025. "Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Crowding-in," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 23(5), pages 1868-1907.
    10. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    11. Meghan M. Skira, 2015. "Dynamic Wage And Employment Effects Of Elder Parent Care," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(1), pages 63-93, February.
    12. Carlo Alberto Biscardo & Alessandro Bucciol & Paolo Pertile, 2015. "Who should monitor job sick leave?," Working Papers 18/2015, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    13. Carlo Alberto Biscardo & Alessandro Bucciol & Paolo Pertile, 2019. "Job sick leave: Detecting opportunistic behavior," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 373-386, March.
    14. Martín-Román, Ángel L. & Moral, Alfonso & Pinillos-Franco, Sara, 2026. "Gender differences in the duration of sick leave: Economics or biology?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2024. "Sick Leave and Medical Leave in the United States: A Categorization and Recent Trends," IZA Policy Papers 206, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2020. "Labor Market Effects of U.S. Sick Pay Mandates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(2), pages 611-659.
    17. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2019. "Reprint of: The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 86-104.
    18. Guy Lacroix & Marie-Ève Brouard, 2011. "Work Absenteeism Due to a Chronic Disease," CIRANO Working Papers 2011s-33, CIRANO.
    19. Titus Galama, 2011. "A Contribution to Health Capital Theory," Working Papers WR-831, RAND Corporation.

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