Disabled Workers and Wage Losses: Some Evidence from Workers with Occupational Injuries

Abstract

We examine the effects of work-related disabilities on the earnings losses of disabled male workers. First, we analyze the extent of the wage losses of disabled workers who remain at their pre-injury job relative to disabled workers who leave their pre-injury job, using regression and bias reduced matching estimators. Second, we estimate a components-of-variance model that examines the persistence of earnings shocks for disabled workers. Our estimates suggest that disabled male workers with work-related injuries who do not return to work with their accident employer have much larger wage losses and more persistent earnings shocks.