Unemployment, Labor Market Flexibility, and Absenteeism: A Pan‐European Study

Abstract

Using micro‐data from the European Union's Labour Force Survey for 28 countries this study investigates the incidence and intensity of individuals' sickness‐absence behavior, and assesses the importance of labor market characteristics like unemployment and the extent of atypical contracts and second job‐holding on individuals' sickness absence. The results identify that unemployment affects sickness absence through different pathways, exerting a negative effect on the probability of being absent and a positive effect on the duration of absence. In addition, the degree of second job‐holding and part‐time contracts in the labor market is found to be negatively related to individuals' sickness absence.