Activation Against Absenteeism: Evidence from a Sickness Insurance Reform in Norway
32 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2017 Last revised: 19 May 2022
Abstract
I evaluate a program aimed at strictly enforcing a requirement that people on long-term sick leave be partly back at work unless explicitly defined as an exception. Employing the synthetic control method, I find that the reform reduced work-hours lost due to absenteeism by 12 % in the reform region compared to a comparison unit created by a weighted average of similar regions. The effect is driven by both increased part-time presence of temporary disabled workers and accelerated recovery. Musculoskeletal disorders was the diagnosis group declining the most. The findings imply large savings in social security expenditures.
Keywords: activation, disability, absenteeism, forkfare
JEL Classification: I18, I38, J48
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation