Work Disability and Labour Supply
Work Disability and Labour Supply
This project empirically and theoretically evaluates social insurance systems for work disability. Almost all OECD countries provide universal coverage for short-term, long-term and permanent work disability. However, the design and generosity of these social insurance systems differ from country to country. Typically, they intend to maintain a balance between work incentive effects and providing a social safety net through wage replacements. In the wake of covid-19, the question of how to incentivize employees to not come to work sick and spread contagious diseases has gained new relevance. The project focuses on the United States and Germany. While Germany has provided paid sick leave since Bismarck, the United States only recently introduced state-level mandates for short-term sick leave and medical leave. These natural experiments provide unique opportunities to evaluate the impact of mandated sick pay on coverage, utilization, the spread of diseases as well as unintended labor market consequences.
