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Sickness absence, presenteeism and work-related characteristics

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  • Arnold, Daniel Timo
  • de Pinto, Marco

Abstract

This paper investigates how changes in work-related factors affect workers' absence and presenteeism behavior. Previous studies (implicitly) assume that there is a substitutive relationship - specifically, that a change in a work-related factor that decreases the level of absence simultaneously increases presenteeism (or vice versa). We set up a theoretical model in which work-related characteristics not only affect a worker's absence decision but also the critical level of sickness that defines presenteeism. Our model shows that non-substitutive relationships between absence and presenteeism are also conceivable. Using European cross-sectional data, we find only one substitutive and few complementary relationships, while the bulk of the work-related characteristics are related only to one of the two sickness states.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnold, Daniel Timo & de Pinto, Marco, 2015. "Sickness absence, presenteeism and work-related characteristics," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113118, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc15:113118
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    Cited by:

    1. Michal Jakubczyk & Beata Kon, 2016. "The impact of firms' expectations & adjustments on the productivity cost of illness," KAE Working Papers 2016-008, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis.
    2. Boris HirschBy & Daniel S. J. Lechmann & Claus Schnabel, 2017. "Coming to work while sick: an economic theory of presenteeism with an application to German data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1010-1031.
    3. Bubonya, Melisa & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Wooden, Mark, 2017. "Mental health and productivity at work: Does what you do matter?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 150-165.
    4. Michał Jakubczyk & Beata Koń, 2017. "The impact of firms’ adjustments on the indirect cost of illness," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 377-394, September.
    5. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Hiesinger, Karolin, 2020. "Dismissal protection and long-term sickness absence: First evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-040, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Stephanie Prümer & Claus Schnabel, 2019. "Questioning the Stereotype of the “Malingering Bureaucrat”: Absence from Work in the Public and Private Sector in Germany," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 570-603, November.
    7. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Hiesinger, Karolin, 2020. "Dismissal Protection and Long-term Sickness Absence - First Evidence from Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 202022, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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