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“Never on a Sunday”: Economic Incentives and Sick Leave in Sweden

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  • Andrén, Daniela

    (Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

Using a longitudinal data for about 1800 persons observed between 1986 and 1991, this study investigates the incentive effects on short-term sickness spells of two important regime changes in the social insurance system in Sweden implemented in 1987 and 1991. The results indicate that the rules influenced people’s decisions about when to report the beginning and ending of sickness spells. The 1991 reform, which reduced the replacement rate, had a stronger effect on reducing the duration of short-term absences than the 1987 reform, which restricted the payment of sickness cash benefit to only scheduled workdays.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrén, Daniela, 2004. "“Never on a Sunday”: Economic Incentives and Sick Leave in Sweden," Working Papers in Economics 136, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0136
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    short-term absenteeism due to sickness; sickness insurance; reform; multiple spells; unobserved heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

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